Liverpool's injury crisis worsens as key senior player gets ruled out for rest of the season

February 2, 2021 By Ali M.

Topics: Joel Matip, Liverpool, Brighton, English Premier League

The Reds will now be without a third senior defender for the remainder of the campaign.

Liverpool's injury crisis has gone from bad to worse as Joel Matip has become the third senior center-back at the club to be ruled out for the remainder of the season. The Cameroonian now joins Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez on Klopp's list of long layoffs.

The defender picked up his injury in the recent 3-1 triumph at Tottenham in the Premier League. Matip, who started alongside Jordan Henderson at the back, was involved in a nasty challenge with Son Heung-Min and was forced off at half-time.

The 29-year-old sat out the subsequent 3-1 victory over West Ham and did not report to the training base, instead visiting a specialist on Monday. Tests revealed that Joel had severely damaged his ankle ligaments and will not be able to feature this season.

Speaking to the club's official website, Klopp revealed that the former Schalke man will not be back until next season's pre-season. The German boss said:

"Unfortunately, we found out now after everybody looked at it that Joel will be out for the rest of the season.

"But he will be ready for the start of the next pre-season and finally everything will be sorted."

Matip's injury probably explains Liverpool's late business in the January transfer window. The defending Premier League champions completed the signings of Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak on deadline day but it remains to be seen whether the two acquisitions can offer much to the Merseyside giants.

Salah and Co. will be back in action in the league this midweek, taking on Brighton at Anfield on Wednesday. After their back-to-back wins over Spurs and West Ham, the Reds climbed back to third and are now within four points of league leaders Man City.