06 December 2023 , 22:37
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Jurgen Klopp has been dealt another double injury blow to take the gloss off Liverpool ’s win.
Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister suffered a bad cut to his knee which could rule him out of Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace. Klopp also confirmed that centre half Joel Matip has suffered an ACL knee ligament injury which will almost certainly rule him out for the season.
Liverpool boss Klopp said: “Alexis had an open wound, we had to stitch it and then we had to do it again and it stiffened up. We hope it will not be too long. Joel has had a scan and has ruptured an ACL which is what I expected. It is very unfortunate.”
The severity of the injury opens up the very real possibility that Matip has played his final game for the club. The Cameroon international is set to become a free agent at the end of the season with no signs that he is set to sign a new deal.
The updates were a negative on a wholly positive night for Klopp's side. The trip to an emotional Bramall Lane always promised to be a tricky one, with Chris Wilder back in the dugout for the first time since his return.
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And the Blades did have some chances in the early exchanges, with James McAtee spurning an early opportunity to put them in front. But from the minute Virgil van Dijk slotted home a Trent Alexander-Arnold corner there was only ever going to be one winner.
Joel Matip is likely to miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury (Getty Images)But despite their dominance, it took until the final moments of added-on time for the visitors to secure all three points when Dominik Szoboszlai smashed the ball into the roof of the net.
The result, twinned with Manchester City's latest slip-up at Aston Villa, means Liverpool find themselves four points clear of last season's champions - and just two points off Arsenal at the top.
Klopp was also involved in a post-match row with Amazon presenter Marcus Buckland who tried to make a joke that Liverpool had “their favourite kick-off time” at Crystal Palace on Saturday at 12.30pm. "That’s brave. That’s really brave, you made a joke about that," he said.
Jurgen Klopp had an awkward showdown during his post-match interview (Getty Images)Buckland attempted to smooth over the incident, only for Klopp to double down on his annoyance: "It is constant. We go home. I don’t know what exactly the time is now. We get back 1am, 2am or whatever and we play again.
"We have two sessions. It’s fine to recover and then we go again. Crystal Palace played tonight and that’s absolutely fine. It’s just not good. You don’t understand it as well even when you work in football. Why should I try to explain again? You make just completely ignorant. But it’s good. Football is entertainment and I understand.”