Liverpool’s assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders has confirmed that Mo Salah will be fine to face Aston Villa this weekend, whilst Joel Matip and Xherdan Shaqiri are set to miss out.
Lijnders, speaking ahead of Liverpool’s League Cup clash with Arsenal, has revealed that Salah is fine, despite injury concerns, but Shaqiri and Matip are major doubts.
Speaking to Liverpool’s official site, Lijnders said this:
Shaq will only be back after the international break. Joel’s knee is still irritated – we need to give him time. I don’t know the exact time he will need but it will really need time to heal. Mo is fine.
READ ASTON VILLA VERDICT
Mixed news for Liverpool, which means the same for Villa as well. They will be frustrated that Mo Salah is not out for the match, due to his undeniable quality for Liverpool in the Premier League.
However, losing Matip is a big blow for Liverpool. The Cameroon international has been superb for Liverpool in 2019 and established himself as one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League – as shown by Liverpool winning the Golden Glove last season for the most clean sheets in the division.
Villa will be hoping that the change in Liverpool’s defence can be something they can exploit. The likes of Jack Grealish and Wesley will surely be looking to push pressure on Matip’s replacement, whether that be Dejan Lovren or Joe Gomez, as quickly as possible to force mistakes.
