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Numerous injury problems have resulted in Joel Matip dropping down the pecking order at Liverpool.

When Virgil van Dijk was recruited in January, it became clear that the Dutchman would be marshalling the back line on a regular basis.

The 27-year-old's centre-back partner has always been a question mark as manager Jurgen Klopp played Dejan Lovren alongside Van Dijk towards the end of last season and Joe Gomez at the start of the current one.

Both Matip and Lovren started for the Reds in Wednesday night's EFL Cup third-round 2-1 defeat to Chelsea.

Klopp made a handful of changes for the encounter at Anfield, and even though his side lost the game, there were some positive signs from a few individual players.

Matip impressed against Southampton in last weekend's Premier League win, in which he scored one of the Reds' three goals.

The German carried that form with him into Wednesday's visit of Chelsea as he rarely looked troubled, particularly in the first half.

As well as making the joint-most clearances alongside Alberto Moreno, Matip showed confidence moving forward with the ball.

His positioning throughout the match was strong, but his passing accuracy was the weakest out of Liverpool's back line.

Van Dijk is head and shoulders above the rest of the defenders, but Matip's recent performances should give Klopp something to think about when selecting his centre-back pairing for future matches.

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