Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren has a unique opportunity to save his career in light of the injury to Joel Matip. The next six weeks will make or break him.
The Guardian has reported that Matip will be out until the international break with the same knee injury that he picked up against Sheffield United and felt after the Manchester United draw.
Dejan Lovren has been preferred to Joe Gomez after the former Charlon Athletic man suffered a torrid time of it against Salzburg in the Champions League and the Croatian international has been handed a unique chance to save his Anfield career.
Some reports have suggested Matip may be out for up to 10 games, although the Echo has written that Liverpool are not prepared to put a time frame on things. That normally means the prognosis is grim.
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A good indication of where Gomez stands in Jurgen Klopp’s mind will be with the team selection to face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup. After fielding an entirely rotated XI against MK Dons, the German has clearly signaled that he will use the League Cup to give minutes to those who need them.
But with a Premier League match on the weekend, he probably won’t pick his first choice central defensive combination. Right now that is Virgil van Dijk and Dejan Lovren, so the Gunners team will be a huge moment for the short-term future of Joe Gomez.
After starting the campaign as fourth choice, Lovren could see his star rising like a phoenix from the ashes at the expense of his English mate. We all anticipated that Gomez would take over from Joel Matip, but that hasn’t happened and now Degs could lay a marker for next season already.
Perform badly and he’ll almost certainly be shown the door. There are teams who want him, and it was almost a surprise to see him start the 2019/2020 season at Melwood.
Six weeks, 10 games. One make or break period in the career of Lovren at Liverpool.