Steve Nicol has suggested that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp can’t put a lot of trust in Joel Matip to steady the ship after the latest bombshell regarding their injury crisis.
Klopp is already without Virgil van Dijk for the whole season after he suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage in his knee last month.
To make matters worse, Liverpool confirmed on Thursday that Joe Gomez has now undergone surgery on a knee problem that he picked up on international duty with England this week.
It looks like the 23-year-old will be out for a while, meaning that Klopp only has three recognised central defenders available right now – Matip, who is only back from injury, and Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams, two young defenders with just one Premier League appearance between them.
The Cameroon international only managed nine league games for the Anfield side last term due to injury mostly, and the former Schalke powerhouse, who earns £100,000 per week on Merseyside, has already had his problems this season.
And Liverpool legend Nicol claims that the player just can’t play two games in a row these days, adding that Gomez’s absence is an ‘absolute catastrophe’.
He told ESPN FC on YouTube: “Joe Gomez was the guy Klopp was looking to to solidify the problems that were left after Van Dijk got injured. Now that he’s gone it’s an absolute catastrophe. You’re looking at two rookies and an experienced player in Matip, but he can’t play two games in a row.”
It’s definitely bad news but it might not be catastrophic.
That’s because despite Nicol’s comments, Matip is fit right now and Fabinho was scheduled to be back after the international break, a goal he looks set to reach.
A centre-back pairing of Matip and Fabinho is still pretty solid and could just see Liverpool through until January.
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