Matip Not Afraid to Face Chelsea Striker, Klopp Lauds “Smooth” Defender After “Difficult” Start

If Liverpool supporters like to talk about how unplayable Sadio Mane has been since he made the move to Merseyside from Southampton during the summer, their Chelsea counterparts are just as keen to talk up Diego Costa who looks back to his marauding best under new Blues boss Antonio Conte.

“If an opponent tries to talk to me during the game, really, I don’t give a f***,” said Reds defender Joel Matip, not pulling any punches when asked about dealing with the Blues in general and the Spaniard in particular. “They can say what they want,” added the Cameroonian. “I don’t think anyone is like Costa. You can play against players who like to make you uncomfortable, but not too many with his size or as famous as him,” continued the former Schalke 04 man. “But I don’t prepare only for Costa. I prepare for the whole team. Maybe he will be my direct adversary and I will study to see how he moves. I have seen a lot of his games. But you can never prepare for one player out of 11.”

Liverpool’s much maligned defense has been a serious talking point over the last couple of seasons — something that Reds boss Jurgen Klopp tried to address over summer. With a deal already in place for the 25-year old after he decided to leave the club he grew up with back in February, Matip was joined by fellow Bundesliga exports Ragnar Klavan and goalkeeping duo Loris Karius and Alex Manninger during the transfer window. After a shaky pre-season that saw his integration into the squad stunted when he picked up an injury, Matip might be looking like a player who is back in full swing, but he’s not 100% fit quite yet.

“Good. I would say he’s still not at 100% fitness because he had a difficult pre-season,” said Klopp when asked about the Schalke import. “His summer break was really difficult. He couldn’t train and for a tall guy like this fitness is a very decisive thing” explained the German manager. “It all looked a bit heavy but he is not like this now. He’s a really smooth player and flexible. Joel is in a very good way.”