Ibrahima Konate trains with 23-man Liverpool squad spotted for Leverkusen clash

November 4, 2024
Sam Millne

There were 23 Liverpool players in training on Monday lunchtime, with Ibrahima Konate taking part and seemingly suffering no pain from the wrist injury that forced him off against Brighton.

Konate trained as normal on Monday as Liverpool prepared for their fourth Champions League match of the season, against Bayer Leverkusen.

Having injured his wrist just before half time on Saturday, there were fears Konate had fractured his wrist. The Frenchman revealed on Sunday, thankfully, that this wasn’t the case and he would be fit for Tuesday’s match.

Given the news, we expected to see the defender in training but it was still a relief to see him moving freely and throwing medicine balls with ease.

Also in training were youngsters James Norris and Tom Hill.

The 21-year-old left-back, Norris, spent last season on loan with Tranmere but suffered from injuries, meaning he played 20 times for the Wirralian club.

Hill, meanwhile, has been at the academy since under-6 level and has made one appearance for the first team – the 5-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the 2020/21 Carabao Cup when the senior squad were in Club World Cup action.

Federico Chiesa remains sidelined, with Slot explaining on Friday that he will “not be back before the international break.”

“We’re hoping he can do things again during the international break and he can join us afterwards.”

Diogo Jota, Alisson and Harvey Elliott were also absent as expected, through rib, hamstring and foot injuries respectively.

Slot said of the trio: “I think I said it already a few times, it’s always difficult to exactly tell you when they are ready, because especially the last phase of the recovery can always be a few days extra or less.

“The fact is that they are not there before the international break, and let’s see if they can join us after.”

Saturday’s win over Brighton, while ultimately enjoyable, was taxing on the players’ fitness, as they had to fight until the very end to secure the three points.

With Liverpool winning three of their three European matches so far, meaning they are second in the 36-team league phase, Slot may decide to rest one or two of his starters.

It is important, though, that the Reds don’t go off the boil in the Champions League, with a tough fixture against Real Madrid following the Leverkusen clash.