Champions League: Liverpool’s Thiago and Matip to miss trip to Ajax
- The Liverpool duo will be left behind when the squad travels to Netherlands
- Liverpool take on Ajax on Wednesday night in their Group match
- Mental Health and Psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19
Liverpool’s Thiago and Matip to miss trip to Ajax.
Premier League champions Liverpool have left Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara at home ahead of their Champions League clash with Ajax on Wednesday, with manager Jurgen Klopp taking no chance on their fitness.
The Premier League champions have a gruelling fixture schedule coming up with six matches in the space of 18 days, and the German boss is keen to manage his stars after losing Virgil van Dijk for the rest of the season.
Matip’s absence is set to give an opportunity to midfielder Fabinho to impress as a makeshift centre-back alongside Joe Gomez in Amsterdam, with Klopp looking to experiment with his options.
Thiago, meanwhile, has only completed a full 90 minutes once for the Reds since his £20million move from Bayern Munich this summer, coming in the 2-2 draw in the Merseyside derby against Everton on Saturday.
The Spaniard only recently recovered from coronavirus and suffered a knock in the closing stages of the game at Goodison Park. Klopp said the player would be ‘assessed’ ahead of the European game, but has decided not to risk him.
Matip also played every minute of the derby and is being primed for Saturday’s home game against Sheffield United, when he’ll be looking to start a successful partnership with Gomez.
Klopp has been left reeling by the loss of Dutchman van Dijk, who was taken out by a horror challenge from Everton keeper Jordan Pickford in the first half of the game.
The star centre-back is expected to miss the rest of the campaign after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligaments after a scan confirmed he required surgery.
