Liverpool dealt injury blow as star centre-back Joel Matip forced off in opening 20 minutes against Borussia Dortmund
The 26-year-old went off holding his left thigh after playing a pass to Rafael Camacho
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JOEL MATIP'S injury woes have continued after the Liverpool centre-back went off clutching his thigh against Borussia Dortmund.
The 26-year-old lasted just over 20 minutes against the Bundesliga side after immediately pulling up following a pass to Rafael Camacho.
He had to be replaced by Reds youngster Joe Gomez - much to the dismay of Liverpool fans.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp said: “It’s another muscle – it looks like, hopefully, only a little tear.
“We will see, but we cannot say anymore it now. It is of course the most negative thing about the day. It’s not cool. Things like this can happen, but you don’t want them to.
“Maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow we will know more, but in this moment we only know that it was too painful for him to carry on.”
Matip has been plagued by injuries since joining Klopp's side from Schalke in 2016.
The Cameroon international was restricted to just 25 Premier League appearances in all competitions last season.
His liability at the back means that Klopp may be forced to go back into the transfer market to bolster his back line.
Klopp is yet to sign a defender this summer, having acquired the likes of Allison, Fabinho and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Along with Matip, former Dortmund boss Klopp currently has Virgil van Dijk, Dejan Lovren, Gomez and Ragnar Klavan at his disposal.
Despite losing Matip early on, Liverpool went into the break 1-0 up in their International Champions Cup opener.
Van Dijk got on the end of an Andrew Richardson delivery to head home in the 25th minute.