Mark Lawrenson has expressed his doubts over Joel Matip’s fitness to talkSPORT when discussing Liverpool’s injury crisis in defence.
The former Red said: ‘Matip is a decent player but he’s like a willow tree; he occasionally gets blown over and he’s not fit for two or three weeks, so he’s another worry.’
Lawrenson’s comments on the Bochum-born defender are fairly accurate.
Matip has had his fair share of injury problems since joining Liverpool. Transfermarkt shows that the 29-year-old has missed a total of 60 games for the Reds before the start of the current campaign.
Often, the former Schalke 04 man hasn’t been missed too severely, as Klopp tends to have the likes of Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk to play in his place.
Now, however, with both of them missing through injury, and Fabinho also sat in the treatment room, Matip will have to find a consistent way of being available.
If he can do that, then there’s no reason why Liverpool can’t still be successful.
Klopp has spoken about his admiration for the Liverpool No.32 in the past.
Liverpool’s official site quote the ex-Borussia Dortmund boss as once calling Matip a ‘world class’ footballer after he penned a new deal in October 2019.
‘Joel has been operating as a world-class centre-half throughout this year and long may it continue.’
There is no doubting that.
Matip has started, and won, a Champions League final for Liverpool, while also playing a key role in their title success last season.
He would ideally be able to stay consistently fit, but he’s without doubt a fantastic asset to Klopp.
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