Arne Slot has described Cody Gakpo as a “close call” for Liverpool’s trip to Man City on Sunday, while Joe Gomez is out for a “long time” after hamstring surgery.
Gakpo missed the last two games after taking a knock to his ankle in the Merseyside derby, with his absence against Aston Villa on Wednesday prompting further concerns.
With Diogo Jota not yet fully fit and Darwin Nunez in worryingly poor form, Slot will be hoping to have his first-choice left winger available for the clash with Man City.
• READ: Nunez miss ‘one of the worst’ – Robbie Fowler says he “doesn’t think enough”
But speaking in his pre-match press conference, the head coach described it as a “close call” when it comes to Gakpo.
“Let’s see. I hope [he will be fit]. I’m not 100 percent sure,” he told reporters.
“He hasn’t trained with the team yet, maybe he does a bit today, I don’t know. It will be a close call.”
Thursday’s headlines
- SLOT BAN: Ban timeline explained as Liverpool accept FA charges
- INJURY UPDATE: Gakpo “close call” as surgery confirmed for Gomez
- SLOT ON NUNEZ: “I want to talk to him” – Slot questions striker’s attitude
- NUNEZ RESPONDS: Darwin sends message to fans – “Until my last day”
- NEXT OPPONENTS: Man City suffer new injury as Guardiola rests key names
Slot knows he will be without Conor Bradley (hamstring) and Tyler Morton (shoulder) along with Gomez, who underwent surgery to correct a long-standing hamstring issue this week.
The operation was successful but, providing an update on his centre-back, Slot suggested that the season may be effectively over for Gomez with a return hopeful for the run-in.
“Joe Gomez had a surgery for his hamstring injury, so he’s out for a long time,” he explained.
“He will be back maybe just before the end of the season.”
Bradley’s blow in the 2-2 draw with Villa was a setback when it comes to plans to manage Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s fitness, with Slot detailing how he looked to limit the right-back’s minutes.
“We spoke about this already a week ago about these five games, he already knew how many minutes he would make,” he said after asked if he had to explain his decision to substitute Alexander-Arnold at Villa Park.
“That was in a situation where Conor was available as well. Now maybe we have to adjust our plan.
“But I said to him ‘you know why I take you out, don’t you?’. He said ‘yeah, yeah, yeah, we spoke about it’.
“But of course, a player has adrenaline and he just scored. It was a better moment than against Wolves when he just lost the ball before I took him off!”
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