Liverpool sweating over fitness of Joel Matip ahead of crunch Man Utd showdown

Joel Matip faces a race against the clock to be fit for Sunday’s crunch Premier League clash with Manchester United. Jurgen Klopp is hoping to welcome back the Cameroonian, who has been missing since the 1-1 draw with West Brom.

The defender picked up an adductor injury against the Baggies after making his return from a back problem that forced him off at half-time against Fulham.

As it stands, Liverpool do not have any fit senior centre-backs available following long-term injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.

Youngsters Rhys Williams and Nat Phillips are on standby and waiting for more opportunities while makeshift defender Fabinho holds things together.

Jordan Henderson slotted in during the 1-0 defeat at Southampton but Liverpool missed their captain’s drive in midfield.

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The Reds boss issued an update on the fitness of Matip ahead of the FA Cup win over Aston Villa.

He said: “Yes, we will try working on that obviously. Until the United game we still have nine days around about, so we try.

“He is in a good way but if it will be United or a few days later, I don’t know.”

Despite Liverpool’s lack of availability at centre-back, the Premier League champions are unlikely to dip into the January transfer market.

The club are expected to wait until the summer before deciding whether to bring in another defender.

Liverpool decided against replacing Dejan Lovren last year after letting the Croatian join up with Zenit St Petersburg.

Dayot Upamecano is among the names under consideration but RB Leipzig are unlikely to sell the player this month.

The Frenchman’s £36million release clause comes into play next summer and Upamecano is also attracting interest from Chelsea and Bayern Munich.