Cody Gakpo will not take any part of the trip to Aston Villa on Wednesday evening as he continues to recover from the knock suffered in the Merseyside derby.
Liverpool’s No. 18 picked up an ankle knock during the Merseyside derby, which forced him to miss out on the win against Wolves over the weekend.
It was the first time this season that Gakpo has been forced to miss a match due to injury, and there was doubt after Saturday’s victory that he could recover in time for the trip to Villa Park.
With a trip to Man City to come on Sunday, the importance of his availability cannot be underestimated and Slot offered an update on his fellow Dutchman in Tuesday’s press conference.
Asked for an update on Gakpo and Joe Gomez‘s availability, Slot told reporters: “Both are unavailable for tomorrow.
“Cody is close to being back, and Joe will take quite a long time.”
The bad news, therefore, is that he is unavailable on Wednesday but the good news is that he is “close” to a return.
The Reds can welcome back Curtis Jones from suspension after he served his one-match ban over the weekend, but Gomez (hamstring), Tyler Morton (shoulder) and Gakpo remain sidelined.
• READ: Gomez injury “might” need surgery – but still hopes season is not over
Slot did not disclose any other fitness issues on the eve of the trip to Villa Park, meaning the expectation is that those who featured against Wolves will all be fit to feature again.
With Gakpo missing out once more, Luis Diaz could find himself on the left wing again with either Darwin Nunez or Diogo Jota leading the line.
Gakpo has been in impressive form of late and will be a big absentee once again, with only Mohamed Salah (28) bettering his tally of 16 goals for Liverpool this season.
Liverpool are still awaiting the verdict of an FA charge for Arne Slot and assistant Sipke Hulshoff after their red cards in the Merseyside derby.
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