Former Liverpool defender Phil Babb feels Joel Matip will give Reds boss Jurgen Klopp a selection headache for Saturday’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur after the Cameroonian’s showing against Burton Albion last night.

Matip, who joined Liverpool from Schalke on a free transfer in the summer, made his debut for the Merseyside giants in their 5-0 thrashing of the Championship outfit in an EFL Cup second round game.




In addition to providing stability to Liverpool’s defence, the 25-year-old also joined in attacks from open play, something Babb insists he has not seen from a Liverpool centre-back in recent years.

Although Babb feels Matip’s performance is sure to give Klopp a selection headache for the Spurs game, the 45-year-old is of the opinion that the Liverpool boss will bring back fellow summer signing Ragnar Klavan for the trip to White Hart Lane.
 


“He looked comfortable and at times when he was stepping out with the ball, he looked frustrated because there were not enough movements in front of him”, Babb told LFC TV.

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“In fact, he got inside the box a couple of times, tried to get on the end of a couple of crosses from open play, which we haven’t seen a centre-half do at Liverpool for a long, long time.

“He was encouraging, so it’s going to be interesting the selection for Saturday.

“I still think the manager will bring back Klavan to partner [Dejan] Lovren for Saturday, but Matip put in a good performance.”

Matip, who is a product of Schalke’s youth system, has 27 caps and a goal for Cameroon to his name.