BBC pundit Garth Crooks has hailed Liverpool centre-back Joel Matip, stating that the Cameroonian seems fearless at present.
The 28-year-old has become an integral part of the Reds’ defence and has forged a fine partnership with Virgil van Dijk so far. Matip has featured in nine matches for Liverpool, scoring twice.
He has been in terrific form this season and produced another impressive performance against Sheffield United last weekend, making some very important challenges as Liverpool won 1-0.
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Crooks included Matip in his Premier League Team of the Week and praised him for his performance against the Blades. In his column for BBC, the former Spurs player wrote: “The improvement in Matip’s performances since the arrival of Van Dijk at Liverpool has been amazing.
“I have said before that Matip has been prepared to do a lot of the heavy lifting in Liverpool’s defence – a role that can be physically demanding at times but one that is immensely rewarding too. Against Sheffield United, it was his ball distribution that impressed me. Making passes into strikers from deep positions can be a risky affair and takes courage. Matip seems to be fearless at the moment. Bad news for Joe Gomez.”
The former Cameroonian international has so far done enough to cement his spot in Liverpool’s first-team and we’ll surely see some more impressive performances at the back from him.
It’ll be interesting to see if Jurgen Klopp chooses him for Wednesday’s fixture against Red Bull Salzburg or rests him.
