Liverpool’s defensive injury crisis worsens as Joel Matip is ruled out for six weeks

It'll be a quiet Christmas for Matip

Liverpool defender Joel Matip will miss the busy Christmas period after suffering a fracture to his collarbone during Liverpool's win over Napoli on Tuesday night. "Matip was taken to hospital following the fixture and further assessment deemed an operation is required", says the Liverpool website. The central defender is expected to be out for around six weeks. This news comes just days after first choice centre-back Joe Gomez suffered a fracture to his leg during Liverpool's win over Burnley at Turf Moor at the weekend. The England international will also miss around six weeks of action. Jurgen Klopp's side made it through to the Champions League knockout stages last night with a 1-0 win over Napoli, and should have Matip back in contention before the next round of games, but will be without two centre-backs for the busy festive period, when they will play four games in ten days. Virgil Van Dijk and Dejan Lovren now look set to start in defence in every match until Matip and Gomez return from injury. Liverpool's next home match is against arch-rivals Manchester United, while their festive fixtures comprise games against Wolves, Newcastle, Arsenal and Manchester City. The likes of Fabinho and James Milner may have to fill in at full-back as Klopp rotates his squad over this period, but Liverpool have very little cover at centre-back.