The headliner fixture of this Premier League weekend could be missing one of the best players on either side. Liverpool’s best defender, Virgil van Dijk, is a serious doubt for the epic clash at Stamford Bridge. During a recent win over his former club Southampton, the Dutchman bruised his ribs, and he’s yet to return to full training.
Jurgen Klopp held his weekly news conference today and said that VVD faces a very late fitness test. The German maintains that his side will be just fine at the centre half position, even if Van Dijk can’t go. Croatian sensation Dejan Lovren has just returned from a long layoff due to a pretty serious pelvic injury.
“With Virgil we have to wait. He hasn’t trained so far with the team, but I can’t say any more about that,” Klopp told his news conference today.
“Virgil is a world-class player, there is no doubt about that, and if you miss a world-class player it is not cool, but Dejan Lovren made his first appearance after, I would say, around 10 weeks.”
“Most of that time he was that injured he couldn’t even think about training because when you have something in that part of your body you cannot do fitness, nothing. And after that long period, he played an outstanding game.”
Klopp also praised the performances of Joel Matip, who has filled in admirably in the starting XI for the past two games.
“Joel Matip, two games in a row, played fantastic,” Klopp added.
“Both full-backs [Alberto Moreno and Nathaniel Clyne] didn’t play in the season so far, so we all get judged constantly, but for the boys it’s much more important what I think about their performance than what you think about their performance.
“I can imagine people say: ‘Thank God all the others come back,’ but these boys did a really good job. So, if Virgil is fit and can play then he will play, but if not then obviously we have options and that’s really good.”
“His impact is always obvious, but we could play football before Virgil van Dijk and we can play without Virgil, thank God, but I prefer that he is fit and available and I can make decisions, if he needs a rest or not in one of the other games. For the last game he was not available but now we will see for tomorrow.”
Chelsea vs Liverpool FC FYIs
Kick-off: Saturday Sept 29 5:30 p.m. (BST), 12:30 p.m. (ET)
TV Info: BT Sport (UK), NBC Sports (U.S.)
Live Stream: BT Sport website (UK), NBC Sports App (U.S.)
Odds for this match via Odds Shark: Chelsea 17/10, Liverpool FC 7/5, Draw 5/2
Injury Report, Match Preview: go to this link
Chelsea FC starting XI prediction: go to this link
Liverpool FC starting XI prediction: go to this link
Prediction: Liverpool FC 3, Chelsea 2
Feel free to post your own Chelsea and/or Liverpool FC starting XI predictions, as well as your best guess as to what the final score will be. Enjoy the match everybody!
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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