Joël Matip in Full Training Ahead of Burnley Match

With Liverpool missing Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez for the season and forced to play two midfielders at centre half in recent weeks, all eyes are on Joël Matip as the 29-year-old nears a return from injury.

The German-Cameroonian defender was close to being ready to face Manchester United on the weekend, and while he didn’t quite make the cut, that means he should be ready to face Burnley on Thursday.

“Joël is in full training,” manager Jürgen Klopp confirmed at his pre-match press conference. “Yesterday he trained completely normal, so now we see how he will be tomorrow and then we make the decision.”

It’s hard to imagine much of a decision to make if Matip feels ready to go, though given his injury record it is probably natural that Klopp would want to be certain the player is 100% fit for his return to action.

There was also an update on Liverpool’s other major injury situation today, with news Diogo Jota is on track and a return for the forward is at least on the horizon—though probably still a couple of weeks away.

“He’s still a few weeks away,” Klopp noted of Jota’s recovery timeline. “I don’t know exactly how long it will be but it will not be in the next week or two. He still needs time and the injury needs time.”