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Michael Owen hails ‘absolutely brilliant’ Liverpool star Joel Matip

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Joel Matip was sensational for Liverpool on Saturday evening.

Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates with Joel Matip of Liverpool after winning the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Arsenal FC at Anfield on August 24, 2019 in Liverpool,...

Michael Owen has singled out Liverpool defender Joel Matip for praise, but believes that manager Jurgen Klopp has designs on dropping him eventually.

The Cameroon international rose highest to head home the opener in the Reds’ 3-1 win over Arsenal at Anfield on Saturday evening.

Matip has been a first-team regular for Liverpool for most of 2019 and his performances en route to Klopp’s side winning the Champions League earned him plenty of praise.

The former Schalke star has been consigning Joe Gomez to a spot on the bench in recent weeks, but Owen claims that the German boss has designs on axing Matip for the former Charlton man.

He told Premier League Productions: “Make no mistake, Jurgen Klopp wants to have Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk as his centre-half pairing, that’s what he sees.

“But over the last season or so, Matip has just, you can’t hardly drop him, if you do you’re resting him and bringing him straight back in. So full marks to Matip, I mean he’s been absolutely brilliant.”

In this form, Matip is undroppable. He is playing no less impressively than Virgil van Dijk at the minute, which is a massive feather in his cap.

Klopp might rate Gomez very highly, but the Liverpool boss needs to pick his team based on form and the reality is that the 22-year-old – an unused sub in the Reds’ last two Premier League games – isn’t performing as well.

(THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT)  Joel Matip of Liverpool with  Arek Milik of S.S.C Napoli during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Liverpool FC and SSC Napoli at Murrayfield on...