Joel Matip and Thiago got lost on Tuesday and doubt that the opening match of the Liverpool Champions League will oppose Ajax on Wednesday night.
Thiago and Matip were injured at the end of Saturday’s 2–2 draw at the Merseyside derby.
Thiago was the recipient of Richarlison’s red card, but has avoided a serious injury.
Matip, doing his first since recovering from a “muscle injury,” did a preventive scan on Monday that he did so.
However, if Matip fails, he will leave Liverpool without a central defence to go to Amsterdam after the new Virgil van Dijk requires knee surgery and will be absent for several months.
Fabinho is a contender to line up there with Joe Gomez with goalkeeper Adrian replacing the injured Alisson Becker.
Matip and Thiago can also miss Liverpool’s match with Sheffield United on their return to the Premier League on Saturday.
Richard Morgan of Sky Sports:
The news that Joel Matip had undergone a scan on a tight leg muscle after Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Everton this weekend and is now a big doubt for Wednesday’s Champions League clash at Ajax will have surprised many.
The 29-year-old has been affected by injuries in recent times, so much so that he played 165 minutes of football in all competitions with Liverpool last year.
In fact, since injuring his knee in Liverpool’s 1–1 draw at Man Utd on 20 October 2019, Matip has only two games, at Everton in June and the weekend, and both resulted in injury.
All of this contrasts sharply with his first two seasons at Anfield, when Cameroonians started 49 Premier League games with the Reds, while also recovering from a damaged collarbone against Napoli in December 2018 to identify as Virgil van Dijk’s central defender. Liverpool won the Champions League in June 2019.
The loss of Virgil van Dijk makes Manchester City the Premier League title favourite, but Liverpool can still win it, especially if they soon incorporate a new central defender like RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano in early January, Jamie Carragher says.
“Liverpool’s next big signing will be a central defender anyway and I’ll talk next summer,” Carragher told Monday Night Football. “Dejan Lovren is gone and they haven’t replaced him, so they only have three central defenses and one of them, Joel Matip, is still wounded.
“Now there are marks on Joe Gomez.
“So there’s no doubt that Liverpool had to go big in the moving market next summer. He was next. This will have to be postponed now until January 1, regardless of this summer’s goal. Not at the end of January. Don’t [waste time that month] nepassating with a club. “
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Jasper Taylor joins Gerard Brand, Ben Ransom and Keith Downie to discuss the Premier League action of the weekend, which, of course, leads to Van Dijk’s anterior cruciate ligament injury and what it can mean for champions.
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