Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp hopes that central defender Joel Matip’s injury will be less serious than
he initially thought, but the German coach said that the club will search for solutions to the injury crisis
in the defensive line before the end of the winter transfer window next Monday.
With central defender duo Virgil van Dyck and Joe Gomez long injured, Klopp received a fresh blow after
Matip was knocked out injured in their 3-1 Premier League win over Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday.
Klopp said he was still waiting for an x-ray examination of Matip’s ankle, but it became certain that the injured
Fabinho would not attend the match against West Ham United on Sunday.
“We still have little hope that Matip’s injury is not serious. We will know more about his condition within
3 or 4 hours. Fabinho will not participate in the weekend match,” Klopp told reporters on Friday.
Liverpool’s attack came back to life and victories with a deserved 3-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur.
Goals from Roberto Firmino, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Sadio Mane gave Klopp’s team the victory after
a wonderful show, as the defending champion scored his first victory in the league since beating Crystal Palace
7-0 on December 19, and returning to fourth place.
Klopp confirmed that Liverpool would seek to deal wisely in the transfer period due to the financial situation
caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, but said that the club is working tirelessly to find defensive solutions in
the coming days.
“I am not sure there will be 80 million pounds (110 million dollars) to buy a central defender. I also do not think
that there is a team currently that can sell a player of this quality.”
He added, “As we did in the past, we will work to solve this problem and we will not calm down before solving it.
We want long-term solutions and this is what we are working for.”
