Liverpool 2-1 Wolves: The thing Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren must hate
As Liverpool beat Wolves 2-1 in the Premier League on Thursday night, Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip must have hated watching it for one reason.
Especially in the first half, when the Reds dominated. The duo, who have just returned to fitness, must have been watching that game with daggers coming out of their eyes: their main target was Joe Gomez.
And that is because Gomez was nowhere near the top of the tree when either one of them went down crocked. Matip had leapfrogged everyone to become Virgil van Dijk‘s partner in crime but he dropped out the race due to a problem picked up away to Sheffield United.
We all expected Gomez to come in then, but Jurgen Klopp had other plans as he ensured Lovren’s rise was swift. The Croatian started to settle down and play some good football, but then disaster struck and Liverpool were left with an a young player who hadn’t convinced as their last line of defence.
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But then eight clean sheets later has changed the conversation around the position and now Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren are back to square one and will find themselves fighting for a role in the FA Cup.
It’s unexpected, and both will say they’re happy for their mate to be playing well and regularly, but deep down they must be gutted.
There was a chance to be a central component of this historic side and through no fault of their own they are going to be denied that, and that will hurt.
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Degs and Joel might have perked up slightly at the sight of Wolves giving Joe Gomez a hard time in the second half, but it won’t have been much tonic. They might get a start against Shrewsbury in the fourth round of the FA Cup, but that’s the best they’ll get for now and that will sting.