Football
Glenn Price, Liverpool correspondent 8y

Liverpool defender Joel Matip wants to build Dejan Lovren partnership

Joel Matip has said he is looking forward to building a solid defensive partnership with Dejan Lovren after the pair helped Liverpool keep a clean sheet in Tuesday's 5-0 EFL Cup win over Burton Albion.

Matip, who moved to Anfield from Schalke in the summer after agreeing a deal in January, made his competitive debut in the second-round tie.

He and Lovren kept Nigel Clough's high-scoring Championship side at bay as the Reds secured their place in the third round.

"I enjoyed playing alongside Dejan," the Cameroon international told the Liverpool Echo. "He's a very good player. I hope we can have a good partnership together.

"I think there's a good understanding there already. At times he covered me, at other times I covered him. We played together at the start of the preseason, so I think it will be good."

Matip sat out the first two games of Liverpool's Premier League campaign after not playing on the club's preseason tour of the United States due to pain in his right foot.

But he completed the 90 minutes at the Pirelli Stadium and will now hope to keep his place in the starting lineup for Saturday's trip to Tottenham Hotspur.

"It was great to play after the time I spent out with the injury," he said. "I needed that time in preseason, so it was frustrating for me. I hope that topic with my foot is finished now. It's much better."

He urged Liverpool to "build on" the Burton result at Tottenham and said: "Tottenham are a great team but we also have many qualities. It will be a great game."

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