Jurgen Klopp has strongly hinted that Ozan Kabak and Nat Phillips will continue in central defence in Liverpool’s trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night.
Kabak and Phillips impressed in midweek as the Reds beat Leipzig 2-0 to move into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 4-0 aggregate victory.
It’s been such a difficult season for Liverpool regarding centre-back options, with Klopp forced to use some 20 different pairings across all competitions due to injuries to Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip.
But in Kabak and Phillips, there looks to be a bit of stability for a change and the German manager has suggested that the pair will continue there in the visit to Molineux.
He told a press conference: “We will see. I hope they will stay fit. I cannot give any guarantees but I’ve heard nothing different. They look good and if they are physically ready to go again – which I hope – then why should we change it? That’s clear. You want to have consistency.”
Kabak, on a season-long loan from Schalke, really impressed in both legs against Leipzig, but it’s been a different story in the Premier League.
Domestically, the 20-year-old stalwart hasn’t looked as assured and has made a couple of errors but, then again, he is still so young and no doubt he will improve under a coach like Klopp going forward.
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