Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that the club will be without Xherdan Shaqiri and Joel Matip for tonight’s clash against Red Bull Salzburg.
The Reds have started this season’s Premier League strongly, winning all of their seven matches so far. However, the same can’t be said of the Champions League. The 2018/19 winners lost their opening match 2-0 to Napoli thanks to goals from Dries Mertens and Fernando Llorente.
Klopp’s lads will be hoping to register their first Champions League win of the season against Red Bull Salzburg at Anfield. However, they will be without Shaqiri and Joel Matip who sustained an injury during last weekend’s match against Sheffield United.
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Speaking to Liverpool’s official website, Klopp said: “Both not available for tomorrow night. Shaq will not be ready for tomorrow, but I don’t know exactly how it looks in the moment because he’s still in the hands of the medical department. “With Joel, it’s not a big one, but it’s big enough that he’s not available for tomorrow night. We don’t want to [take] any risks and we don’t have to take any risks, and that’s why he will not be involved.”
Shaqiri’s calf injury certainly robs him of some game time. With Matip out, Joe Gomez will most likely partner Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the defence. Klopp won’t be too willing to take any risks with the former Cameroonian international since he has become an integral part of Liverpool’s squad.
Klopp also confirmed that Alisson will be out for tonight’s fixture but has a very good chance of featuring against Manchester United after the international break. The Liverpool boss said: “The training he is doing, he looks really well. But it was a serious injury and we don’t want to take any risks, that’s how it is. So for [Salzburg], no chance because he didn’t train so far with the team. Then we have to see for Leicester and then the [Manchester] United game probably 100 per cent. But we will see.”
