Football
Glenn Price, Liverpool correspondent 6y

There's 'a big chance' Joel Matip will be fit to face Chelsea - Jurgen Klopp

Jurgen Klopp says he is hopeful defender Joel Matip will return from injury in time for Saturday's game against Chelsea.

Matip will miss his second straight match with a muscle strain, having not travelled to Spain for Liverpool's Champions League tie with Sevilla on Tuesday night.

The centre-back missed his first Premier League match of the season as Liverpool beat Southampton on Saturday and has been unable to recover in time for the midweek fixture.

"The squad looks good," Klopp told the club's official website. "They are pretty much all here from the normal squad, apart from Joel. He is in Liverpool and full training, so all good.

"He is good. I think there will be a big chance he will be ready for Saturday, but there was no chance for this game -- it was a little bit too quick, but it's all good."

With Matip absent Klopp opted to use a central-defensive partnership of Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan against Southampton.

Meanwhile, Liverpool will not fly home immediately after the Sevilla match, instead opting to spend the night in Spain and training there on Wednesday morning before returning to Merseyside.

Klopp said: "We thought a lot about. How we do it [travel home], no way is the perfect way after the game -- if you fly home immediately then in the middle of the night you come home and you cannot really sleep then have to go to training the next day.

"We decided this time we would stay there because of the long flight. We will train there and that's why we've brought a bigger squad with us, so we can have a proper session in the morning.

"Then we boys can go home and immediately to their families. Then we start again on Thursday preparing for the Chelsea game."

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