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Despite never having lined up on defense, the German believes the Englishman and former Cameroon star may rise to the occasion.
Jurgen Klopp has admitted that his center-back partnership of Joe Gomez and Joel Matip will be “put to the test”, but the Liverpool supreme says he knows they will be able to coexist successfully without “a shadow of a doubt”.
The German has been left with national team headaches at the rear following news that Virgil van Dijk will be out for most of the season after sustaining an ACL injury in a clash with Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford during last week’s Merseyside derby.
Having left Fabinho behind to join England regular Gomez for their Champions League win over Ajax midweek, Klopp is mulling over how to solve the long-term problem of replacing arguably the best defender in the world for his first defense of the top flight title in three decades. .
Former Cameroonian international Matip appears to be among the obvious candidates following the departure of Dejan Lovren during the transfer window, but the 29-year-old has never started a match alongside Gomez, who has effectively been his regular replacement during the match. the past two seasons, and the couple’s peak fitness periods rarely coincide.
Ahead of his team’s Premier League clash with Sheffield United, Klopp revealed that he was previously unaware that the duo had never lined up shoulder to shoulder before, and acknowledged that both, plus Fabinho, will face a baptism of fire as they watch to give. a step in the gap left by Van Dijk.
“The reason for [why they never played together] it’s because I think Virg played almost every game and one of them got injured, “he said.” As long as Dejan Lovren was still here and Dejan was in good shape at the time [he could play].
“I didn’t know they had never played together, I didn’t know, but they can play together, without a doubt. As I said for Fabinho and Joe’s couple, they need to get used to each other.” and the sides need to get used to.
“The more stability you have in this line, the better. We never really had that, especially a position was always with a lot of changes. They will fight together, there is no doubt about that.
“It’s football and it didn’t become rocket science overnight. We can help them with information, but then they will be tested every three days, that’s the situation.”
