AFCON confirmation boost but Matip to sit out season – Liverpool FC Roundup

June 30, 2020
This Is Anfield

Liverpool are already promising they’ll go hard again next season in search of yet more trophies, which is absolutely phenomenal to consider.

AFCON postponed leaving Reds at full strength

One of the big pressing issues surrounding Liverpool’s transfer market activities was not having enough forwards next January, when the Africa Cup of Nations was due to take place.

After a few back-and-forth rumours in recent weeks, it has now been confirmed that the tournament will be postponed and played at a later date, presumably the following year although that’s not yet official.

Naby Keita, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah all stood to depart and miss games at a key time for the Reds.

Now they’ll all be available throughout the year, barring the obvious injury caveat, giving Jurgen Klopp maximum attacking options and less pressure to invest this summer to fill the potential void.

Still doesn’t mean we definitely won’t buy, of course…

Matip out for season so a new opportunity arises

However, for one (former) African international there’s rather less positive news.

Joel Matip, now retired from Cameroon duty, will miss the rest of the Reds’ campaign through injury.

He departed the match against Everton early after suffering an impact on what Klopp said was his big toe, and it appears serious enough for him to miss the coming weeks.

With the title secured it won’t have any meaningful impact on 2019/20, but there could be ramifications going forward.

Dejan Lovren is widely expected to depart, so we could see game time at centre-back for teenager Ki-Jana Hoever, and if he performs well Klopp will need to decide whether he’s capable of being a squad option next year.

If not, with Lovren probably off and Matip frequently sidelined, it could well be that a new face comes in to beef up the back line. No, not Koulibaly!

Past, present, future

Liverpool have made a few big calls over the last decade, but appointing Klopp was the best. Looks to have been a close-run thing!

A report suggests Klopp headed a three-man shortlist to replace Brendan Rodgers as boss, but Eddie Howe was a real consideration too
The boss has pinpointed the moment he felt the gap was big enough that the Reds could go on and seal the title
And looking ahead, Sadio Mane has promised “we won’t stop here” and spoken of what comes next for the Reds

Quickfire LFC news

Out-on-loan Taiwo Awoniyi has spoken of his ‘near-death’ experience after a head injury in a match recently (Goal)

A report confirms what we all already knew: the Reds are not in for Koulibaly (Sky Sports)

Jamie Redknapp says Mane’s consistency since joining the Reds has proven people wrong (Goal)

And Andy Robertson says his successes at Liverpool can boost the morale and mentality in the Scotland national team (BBC)

Around the Prem

Timo Werner has said he had “several” offers outside of Liverpool and Chelsea for moves this summer, despite, you know, not actually having one from Anfield (Goal)

Benjamin Mendy has demanded City play at their best level against the Reds when they meet in midweek and perhaps he should have considered asking for this about 30 games earlier (MCFC)

Nick Pope is back ahead of Alisson after keeping a clean sheet last night – it’s now 13-12 in the race for the Golden Gloves. Quick reminder that Jordan Pickford is apparently England’s finest (PL)

And Jack Grealish is now wanted by Man City as well as Man United, so neither must have been watching him play since the restart (Telegraph)

Stupid rumour of the day

Arsenal, short of money and quality, apparently want to pay over £30m for Wout Weghorst, 27. If they sign him to replace Aubameyang we can confidently rule them out of title contention for the next three years or so at least.

Tweet of the day

Stunning strikes, a clean sheet and three BIG points ?

Our last game was a memorable one ??? pic.twitter.com/FviEZD9l0p

— Liverpool FC (Premier League Champions ?) (@LFC) June 30, 2020