Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola has provided an update on Joe Gomez after the defender suffered a muscle injury during the club’s pre-season tour of the United States.
Gomez was forced off just eight minutes into Liverpool’s victory over Sunderland in Nashville last weekend.
Speaking at a press conference in Chicago on Thursday, Iraola confirmed the centre-back will be sidelined for a short period, although it is still too early to determine an exact return date.
The head coach told journalists: “Joe has a muscle injury. I think it was quite clear since he complained straight away, so it will depend how he evolves, but he will be some weeks off.”
Asked for further detail on how long he expects to be without Gomez’s services, Iraola added: “It’s a muscle injury and [with] muscle injuries it is difficult to say one day, but normally I always put myself as one month.
“If it goes very good the injury is a little bit less, if [not] it goes a little more. It’s not massive, it’s a normal muscle injury, [but] I think it’s going to be impossible to have him for the start of the season because we are not so far [away]. It shouldn’t be a lot more.”
With Joe Gomez and Jeremy Jacquet unavailable, and Virgil van Dijk only recently returning to pre-season training following his World Cup commitments, Liverpool were short of options at centre-back for Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Wrexham.
Luke Chambers and Ifeanyi Ndukwe started in central defence at Yankee Stadium, while Mor Talla Ndiaye also featured in the role during the second half.
Although Iraola admitted Liverpool are “pretty thin” at centre-back at present, he praised the performances of the club’s young defenders as they continue to impress during pre-season.
“You have seen these games, we are pretty thin in the centre-back position,” he said. “We still don’t have Virgil. The only real centre-backs we have right now are Mor and Ify, that are 18 years old, just arrived to the club and they are doing incredibly well.
“Yesterday Luke Chambers played there, he is not a centre-back but he played really, really well. We have to until we recover some bodies.
“I think Jeremy is ready to go and we will recover Virgil, but I’m happy that playing against Sunderland, against Wrexham – good teams – with 18-year-old centre-backs, the team has showed composure and solidity at the back and [that] speaks very well about them.”
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