Jurgen Klopp Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp admits Liverpool are yet to learn the severity of Joel Matip’s ankle injury. And the Reds boss says the centre-back will be made to see a specialist to determine the extent of the damage. Matip was withdrawn at the halfway stage of Thursday’s 3-1 win at Tottenham after suffering ligament damage in north London. The news was a further blow to Klopp who has been besieged by centre-back injuries all season, including a muscle complaint for Fabinho that has kept him out of the last two matches. Klopp said Liverpool do not yet know the full picture with regards to how long Matip will be sidelined as they closed in on a £2million deal for Preston North End defender Ben Davies on Sunday. Davies will undergo a medical on Monday as the Reds aim to add some much-needed cover to a depleted area of their squad.
Jurgen Klopp said: “With Joel, we don’t have the final diagnosis”. Specialists must have a look and stuff like this until we know exactly. And on transfer things, we don’t say anything, so nothing to say about it until something is done, if something is done.
Klopp was also full of praise for “world-class” Mohamed Salah after his second-half brace took him up to 21 goals for the season at Anfield. The Egypt star opened the scoring in the second with a sublime finish before doubling his and Liverpool’s tally with a stunning counter-attack. Salah’s run ended a six-game drought and Klopp was delighted with the contributions of the Premier League’s 15-goal top scorer.
Jurgen Klopp said: “He actually scored a goal against Tottenham”. “It didn’t count, I know that, but it was a brilliant ‘goal’. He had nothing to do with him that it didn’t count. It was a handball in the build up but the goal was brilliant. And even that, for sure, was a good sign for him that a couple of things are clicking again. Tonight we played a super game. He was really involved in the game, flexible, all these kinds of things. He kept the ball, his passing was good and his controlling of the ball was really good. And in the end, his first goal was just a super smart goal. I didn’t see it back, but from my perspective, (goalkeeper) Fabianski couldn’t see the ball so he chipped it into the far corner. Super smart. The second goal, what a counter-attack. Two passes until Mo got the ball and it was spectacular from Shaq (Xherdan Shaqiri). The first touch from Mo was outstanding, world class and then a nice finish. So he had a top finish, top goals. I am not surprised. I work on a daily basis with him and he will never stop having a massive desire to score goals. He is a world-class player, there is no doubt about that. As I said in the last few weeks, we didn’t score that many and the only thing you can do is try and try again and make good decisions. Tonight we didn’t force it. First goal was a proper smart goal. In the last few weeks we would have tried to have forced it and maybe had a shot through the legs or whatever. It was a top-class goal.”
