Arne Slot has confirmed Joe Gomez is a major doubt for Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Galatasaray on Wednesday.
Ibrahima Konate, who missed the weekend game due to a hamstring concern, is expected to return alongside captain Virgil van Dijk.
On Konate, Slot said at his pre-match press conference: “Yeah, he is at this moment of time [ready to play].
“The day after the game is recovery, if you play so many games with only two days of rest in between you cannot do a lot but he is declared completely fit, he doesn’t feel the discomfort anymore.
“So, then he is ready to start and hopefully fulfil 90 minutes or, if needed, even longer. But that’s what we have to find out tomorrow.”
Gomez missed Tuesday’s training after starting in last week’s 1-0 defeat in Istanbul and Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham. Alexander Isak continued his individual recovery from December surgery.
The head coach stated: “Alex is not available for tomorrow, and Joe, we will decide that tomorrow.
“He wasn’t ready to train today, he had too much issues after our last game, although he had these issues already after the Galatasaray game [and] wasn’t planned to play against Tottenham but unfortunately Ibou got discomfort in his hamstring so we couldn’t take the risk of playing him.
“That’s why Joe had to play and that has built up so much that now he’s a bit of a doubt for tomorrow.
“But he’s going to try tomorrow, to see if he is available. Alex is, like I said, not available for tomorrow but the fact that you see him on the pitch tells you that he gets closer and closer to joining us again.”
When asked if he now has a more definitive timescale in mind for Isak’s return, Slot replied: “No, not really, but he will not be available for Saturday as well. As long as you don’t train with the team yet, you are not ready to play.
“And as we all know, if you’ve done for months only individual sessions, it’s also quite a step up to train with the team, and when you train with the team it’s quite a step up to play at Premier League intensity or Champions League intensity.”
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