Jurgen Klopp provides Matip & Keita updates ahead of Liverpool’s showdown with Man United
Last Updated: January 16, 2021 12:14 pm
Rivalries renewed
The marquee fixture of the upcoming Premier League gameweek is of course set to take place at Anfield.
The clash will see Liverpool welcome Manchester United to Merseyside, for a top-of-the-table showdown.
As things stand, it is the latter who hold the advantage in the race for the title, with Klopp’s champions having slipped into an uncharacteristic slump over the last couple of weeks.
Since downing Crystal Palace by 7 goals to nil at Selhurst Park, Liverpool have since managed to secure just two points from an available nine.
Their last Premier League outing, meanwhile, saw the Reds look an absolute shell of their brilliant selves, en route to a deserved 1-0 defeat at Southampton.
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 04: ( THE SUN OUT,THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT ) Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool with Jurgen Klopp manager of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Southampton and Liverpool at St Mary’s Stadium on January 04, 2021 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Manchester United, on the other hand, are currently in the midst of a stellar spell of league form, having remained unbeaten since November, and notched wins in each of their last three.
Reds latest
As such, Jurgen Klopp and co. are no doubt aware that they will need to be firing on all cylinders on Sunday evening, if they hope to get one over on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s ever-improving Red Devils.
And, ahead of the highly anticipated Anfield showdown, the Liverpool boss this afternoon held his pre-match press conference.
A host of topics were brought to the fore during the media exchange, with the most noteworthy, as outlined above, having surrounded the fitness of a pair of Reds stars – Joel Matip and Naby Keita.
The former’s participation on Sunday would of course mark a major boost, with the long-term injuries picked up by Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez having left the champions paper thin at the back.
Matip, though, remains a doubt, confirmed Klopp, with the Cameroonian stopper having not yet returned to first-team training:
‘Joel is close. Does it now make sense to throw him into a game with one or two sessions, which he didn’t do yet, but today and tomorrow he might be involved?’
‘To bring him [in], I don’t know. We have to see, we have to decide, we have to look at him and how he will train, how he looks in training and these kind of things, but we have still different solutions.’
‘Hendo is very important in midfield for us as well, so we just have to see. It’s not decided yet, why should I?’
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 19: Robert Lewandowski of Bayern Munich tangles with Joel Matip and Jordan Henderson of Liverpool during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg match between Liverpool and FC Bayern Muenchen at Anfield on February 19, 2019 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Keita, meanwhile, is certain to miss out in 48 hours’ time, with Klopp ready to hand the all-action midfielder as long as he needs to return to peak fitness, amid a series of niggling injury issues:
‘Naby is not ready for involvement. It’s not a big thing; it’s a little bit like with other players in the past when they came back from injuries and then because of the amount of games and situation in the squad they had to play.’
‘Then a little injury happened again. Now we just had to put on the brake and say, ‘Let’s settle it properly.’ In the moment we have alternatives in midfield, so we really try to give him all the time he needs to get 100 per cent fit. That’s the situation, so no, he is not in contention for Sunday.’
We will assess the fitness of Matip before determining whether he can be involved in Sunday’s clash with @ManUtd at Anfield.#LIVMUN
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 15, 2021
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This article was edited by Josh Barker.
Liverpool betting odds, next game:
Sheff Utd vs Liverpool odds: result, both teams to score, correct score & goalscorers
| Sheff Utd vs Liverpool Result/Both teams score | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Sheff Utd | 11/1 | 12/1 |
| Liverpool | 2/1 | 11/8 |
| Draw | 11/2 | 14/1 |
| Sheff Utd vs Liverpool Goalscorers | First | Last | Anytime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohamed Salah | 5/4 | 5/4 | 4/7 |
| Diogo Jota | 15/8 | 15/8 | 5/6 |
| Sadio Mane | 15/8 | 15/8 | 5/6 |
| Roberto Firmino | 13/5 | 13/5 | 6/5 |
| Divock Origi | 11/4 | 11/4 | 11/8 |
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| # | Team | MP | D | P |
| 1 | Manchester City FC | 26 | 36 | 62 |
| 2 | Manchester United FC | 25 | 21 | 49 |
| 3 | Leicester City FC | 25 | 17 | 49 |
| 4 | West Ham United FC | 26 | 9 | 45 |
| 5 | Chelsea FC | 25 | 16 | 43 |
| 6 | Liverpool FC | 25 | 11 | 40 |
| 7 | Everton FC | 24 | 4 | 40 |
| 8 | Aston Villa FC | 23 | 11 | 36 |
| 9 | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 24 | 10 | 36 |
| 10 | Leeds United | 25 | 0 | 35 |
| 11 | Arsenal FC | 25 | 5 | 34 |
| 12 | Wolverhampton Wanderers FC | 25 | -6 | 33 |
| 13 | Crystal Palace FC | 25 | -14 | 32 |
| 14 | Southampton FC | 25 | -12 | 30 |
| 15 | Burnley FC | 25 | -12 | 28 |
| 16 | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 25 | -6 | 26 |
| 17 | Newcastle United FC | 25 | -17 | 25 |
| 18 | Fulham FC | 25 | -11 | 22 |
| 19 | West Bromwich Albion | 25 | -36 | 14 |
| 20 | Sheffield United FC | 25 | -26 | 11 |
| Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Salah, Mohamed | Liverpool FC | 17 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 15 |
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 13 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 13 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 13 |
| Calvert-Lewin, Dominic | Everton FC | 13 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 12 |
| Gundogan, Ilkay | Manchester City FC | 11 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 10 |
| Watkins, Ollie | Aston Villa FC | 10 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 9 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 9 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 9 |
| Zaha, Wilfried | Crystal Palace FC | 9 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 8 |
| Ings, Danny | Southampton FC | 8 |
| Lacazette, Alexandre | Arsenal FC | 8 |
| Aubameyang, Pierre-Emerick | Arsenal FC | 8 |
| Soucek, Tomas | West Ham United FC | 8 |
| Antonio, Michail | West Ham United FC | 7 |
| Player | Team | Red Cards | Yellow Cards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallagher, Conor | West Bromwich Albion | 0 | 8 |
| Bellerin, Hector | Arsenal FC | 0 | 8 |
| Lundstram, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 6 |
| Evans, Jonny | Leicester City FC | 0 | 7 |
| Egan, John | Sheffield United FC | 1 | 6 |
| Bissouma, Yves | Brighton & Hove Albion FC | 1 | 6 |
| Milivojevic, Luka | Crystal Palace FC | 1 | 6 |
| Hayden, Isaac | Newcastle United FC | 0 | 7 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 6 |
| Doucoure, Abdoulaye | Everton FC | 0 | 6 |
| Hojbjerg, Pierre | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 0 | 6 |
| Xhaka, Granit | Arsenal FC | 1 | 5 |
| Maguire, Harry | Manchester United FC | 0 | 6 |
| Romeu, Oriol | Southampton FC | 0 | 6 |
| Luiz, Douglas | Aston Villa FC | 0 | 5 |
| Kante, N`Golo | Chelsea FC | 0 | 6 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 0 | 5 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 0 | 5 |
| Dallas, Stuart | Leeds United | 0 | 5 |
| Soucek, Tomas | West Ham United FC | 1 | 4 |
| Player | Team | Assists |
|---|---|---|
| Kane, Harry | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 11 |
| Fernandes, Bruno | Manchester United FC | 10 |
| Grealish, Jack | Aston Villa FC | 10 |
| De Bruyne, Kevin | Manchester City FC | 10 |
| Son, Heung Min | Tottenham Hotspur FC | 6 |
| Rashford, Marcus | Manchester United FC | 6 |
| Cresswell, Aaron | West Ham United FC | 6 |
| Digne, Lucas | Everton FC | 6 |
| Sterling, Raheem | Manchester City FC | 5 |
| Maddison, James | Leicester City FC | 5 |
| Firmino, Roberto | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Ward-Prowse, James | Southampton FC | 5 |
| Werner, Timo | Chelsea FC | 5 |
| Raphinha | Leeds United | 5 |
| Robertson, Andrew | Liverpool FC | 5 |
| Shaw, Luke | Manchester United FC | 5 |
| Bamford, Patrick | Leeds United | 4 |
| Vardy, Jamie | Leicester City FC | 4 |
| Wilson, Callum | Newcastle United FC | 4 |
| Barnes, Harvey | Leicester City FC | 4 |
