Liverpool and Chelsea meet at Stamford Bridge this Saturday evening in what should be a classic Premier League game. Jurgen Klopp spoke to reporters at Melwood today for his pre-game press conference.
Klopp does, however, have one major concern ahead of Liverpool’s trip to London. Star centre-back, Virgil van Dijk, is a serious injury concern after picking up a bruised rib injury in last week’s Champions League win over Paris Saint Germain.
Unfortunately for The Reds, Van Dijk’s injury began to play up again after taking another knock in Liverpool’s 3-0 win at home to Southampton, last Saturday. The Dutch central defender was replaced by Joe Gomez, that day.
“Virgil is a world-class player and when you miss a world-class player it’s not cool. Dejan Lovren played his first game in 10 weeks and most of that time he couldn’t train.’’ Klopp told his pre-match press conference.
“If Virgil is fit, he plays. If not, then obviously we have options.
“We can play without Virgil, thank God. But I prefer if we can. The last game he wasn’t available, now we will see for tomorrow.”
Gomez saw out the rest of the Southampton game beside Joel Matip in the centre of defence. On Wednesday night, Klopp opted for Lovren and Matip at the heart of the back four in the League Cup. If Van Dijk is indeed out, then it will be interesting to see which partnership gets the nod from the Liverpool manager, at Chelsea.
