Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp confident Joel Matip will be fit for season opener against Arsenal

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is confident Joel Matip will be ready for the opening Premier League game of the season against Arsenal.

Matip, 24, arrived on Merseyside from German club Schalke on a free transfer in July but an ankle injury has interrupted his pre-season campaign. The Cameroon international missed friendlies Fleetwood Town and Huddersfield Town as a result of the knock, prompting concerns he may not be fully match fit for the league opener against the Gunners on 14 August.

Klopp however is confident the centre-half will be ready for the trip to north London and expects him to make a full return to training next week. "Matip will be ready for the start of the season," Klopp said, speaking after the club's friendly defeat to Chelsea," Klopp said following his side' pre-season defeat to Chelsea on Thursday 28 July.

"In the first two and a half weeks of pre-season he was really good. Now he has been out for a week. He trained today so hopefully he will be back in team training soon."

Klopp has allowed both Martin Skrtel and Kolo Toure to leave Merseyside this summer with Matip likely to be handed a first-team role when fit. But with Mamadou Sakho and Joe Gomez both looking likely to miss the start of the campaign with their own injuries and Tiago Ilori with Portugal's Olympic squad, the former Borussia Dortmund boss has bolstered his options with Estonia international Ragnar Klavan.

Liverpool suffered their first defeat of their pre-season to Chelsea in California on Thursday and continue their preparations ahead of the 2016-17 season with games against AC Milan (31 June), Roma (2 August) and Barcelona (6 August) before their season opener against Arsenal.