Liverpool can reveal perfect Joel Matip replacement tonight

Liverpool can reveal the perfect Joel Matip replacement.

It’s a big game in Italy as the Reds look to extend their lead at the top of their Champions League group with a win over Atalanta.

The Reds are the only side in the competition who are yet to concede a goal, but the firepower the Serie A entertainers have will put that to the test.

Depending on the outcome of the fixture, we’ll be able to see if Liverpool have revealed the perfect Joel Matip replacement.

Jurgen Klopp included the former Schalke man in the squad and flew him out to Bergamo, but his persistent fitness issues mean that Klopp will probably opt to be cautious with him.

That mean Champions League starlet Rhys Williams could be in for a debut of fire. While he’s featured against Ajax and Midtjylland in the last two rounds, the teenager is yet to start in Europe and, if he does, Atalanta will surely look to target him.

From non-league football to the pinnacle of the game in 12 months doesn’t happen to everyone, and Klopp wouldn’t pick Williams if he didn’t believe in the towering youngster. What happens on Tuesday night could inform the manager’s decision making for the rest of the season.

Should Williams contain the Serie A side’s lightning attack, appear composed and make the right decisions then it could relegate Matip down to fourth choice and put his Liverpool future at risk.

A scenario in which Klopp decides to go with the cheaper, less-injury prone Williams as a fourth choice centre-back, sell Matip and bring in an option like Ozan Kabak to rotate with Joe Gomez is not as far fetched as you may think.

While Matip possesses some enviable qualities, he’s hardly available and starts each campaign below Virgil van Dijk and Gomez in the pecking order. He’s also 29-years-old, and is one of the players who’ll have to be replaced by a younger man in the next few years.

As he gets older, those injury worries aren’t going to clear up. Klopp may well have his exit in mind regardless, but another good performance from Williams on Tuesday will only accelerate that and prove to everyone that we have Matip’s replacement in-house.