Florian Wirtz will miss Liverpool’s trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday, head coach Arne Slot has confirmed, following the Reds’ 5-2 victory over West Ham United.
The German international was absent from Saturday’s seven-goal thriller at Anfield due to a back injury, as the defending Premier League champions climbed to fifth in the table.
There had been hope that the £116 million summer signing would return to the squad against the Hammers after withdrawing shortly before kick-off in last weekend’s 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
However, uncertainty surrounding the severity of his back problem emerged on Friday when Slot revealed that Florian Wirtz would not be available and admitted he was unsure when the midfielder would regain full fitness.
Despite missing their creative talisman, Liverpool impressed against West Ham, scoring five times through Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister, Cody Gakpo, and an own goal from Axel Disasi.
Any optimism that Wirtz might feature in the first of two upcoming trips to Molineux has now been dismissed, with Slot confirming the playmaker will not be involved.
When asked for an update on the 22-year-old during his post-match press conference, Slot said: “I think that will be too early [Tuesday against Wolves], but I said last week that I did not expect him not to be avaiable for today, so sometimes in an injury things can develop in a positive way or a negative way.
“Now we are thinking it doesn’t have to take too long, but Tuesday will probably be too early. The week after will be tight, as things stand now, but as I said, I thought that he would be available for today as well, which didn’t happen unfortunately.”
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