Despite the imminent returns of Naby Keita and Kostas Chimica, who Jurgen Klopp says are both in contention to feature against Crystal Palace, several senior Liverpool players are still sidelined. Caoimhin Kelleher, Ibrahima Konate, Calvin Ramsay, Thiago, Curtis Jones, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kaide Gordon and Diogo Jota remain out and now news has emerged of another possible injury problem. Central defender Joel Matip, who started the Community Shield win against Man City and the Premier League opener against Fulham, reportedly missed training on Friday with a “groin problem”. According to Sam Wallace of the Telegraph , Matip took part in the session “in the hope that he could potentially be ready” for Liverpool’s first home game of the Premier League season on Monday. The Echo ran a similar story and claim the former Cameroon international was pulled out of training “as a precaution”. With Konate still unavailable, Joe Gomez would almost certainly go into the squad alongside Virgil van Dijk should Matip be ruled out. Liverpool’s defensive injuries also have a negative impact on the futures of Nat Phillips and Sepp van den Berg, who were both expected to leave either permanently or on loan this summer. Klopp said last week that Konate’s injury would “probably” mean Phillips would have to stay put for now, despite interest from the likes of Fulham and Bournemouth. Van den Berg was on the bench against Fulham and is said to be attracting interest from a number of Championship clubs, with Blackburn reported to be the frontrunners. However, reports on Friday suggest the move could be on hold due to Liverpool’s injury concerns, which would link to a potential problem for Matip. After a number of injuries in the early years of his Liverpool career, the 2021/22 campaign was arguably Matip’s best season at Anfield to date, having managed to stay fit for most of the season. Klopp will be hoping that remains the case this season, and hopefully his absence from Friday’s session was nothing more than a precaution.
