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Chelsea – Liverpool combined XI

By David Cambridge

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 16: Adam Lallana of Liverpool and Eden Hazard of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on September 16, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 16: Adam Lallana of Liverpool and Eden Hazard of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on September 16, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images) /
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SWANSEA, WALES – OCTOBER 01: Joel Matip of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Liverpool at Liberty Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images)
SWANSEA, WALES – OCTOBER 01: Joel Matip of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Liverpool at Liberty Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images) /

Centre-back: Joel Matip

Matip’s recent absence from the Liverpool side – the result of a peculiar dispute between the player and the Cameroon federation (which, at last, appears to be reaching a sensible resolution) – has been keenly felt by Liverpool over their January fixtures, particularly during their shock 3-2 home defeat to Swansea last weekend when Llorente had a field day in front of goal. Despite only joining the Reds in the summer, the former Schalke man has quickly become their most important defensive cog.

It’s a toss-up between him and Gary Cahill, and although the latter is, in his own way, a fundamental part of Conte’s back-line (his place, albeit, now under threat from Nathan Ake, recently recalled from his loan at Bournemouth, and the fit again Kurt Zouma), he has suffered his share of embarrassing moments this season, and, if we’re completely honest, is probably the most dispensable member of this Chelsea side. At 31, you feel he’s probably moving towards the tail-end of his time with the club as well.

Matip is much quicker across the ground, as well as being a better distributor of the ball – qualities which, in the modern game, are all-important for a centre-half, especially at a title-chasing team like the Reds. Liverpool haven’t had a centre-half on whom they can rely for a few years now – perhaps since the days of Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia even – and Matip (FIFA bureaucracy aside) is fast becoming a key man as Klopp looks to restore the glory days at Anfield.

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