Manchester City were handed a big boost as Liverpool picked up yet another injury ahead of the crunch Premier League clash between the two sides on Sunday.
Liverpool’s injury crisis has gone up a notch with their mammoth clash with Manchester City right around the corner.
Ibrahima Konate limped off during the Reds’ thumping 5-1 Europa League victory over Sparta Praha on Thursday, prompting fears he’ll miss the crunch clash with City on Sunday. The Frenchman pulled up during the second half with a suspected muscle injury, prompting an immediate substitution.
His potential absence leaves Jurgen Klopp with a major defensive headache given the injuries to both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip. Liverpool are also expected to be without the likes of Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota, Curtis Jones, Thiago Alcantara, Ryan Gravenberch and Stefan Bajcetic for the champions’ Anfield visit.
That said, the Merseyside club have been boosted by the return of Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Dominik Szoboszlai, all of whom sat out chunks of the past couple of weeks. But Konate’s injury has understandably left many Liverpool fans worried about the weekend – particularly amid concerns over the fitness of Nunez and Joe Gomez at full time.
“This is the last thing we need. At least he walked off the pitch,” one Reds fan wrote on X. “Not ideal ahead of Man City. Praying it’s nothing serious,” said another. A third moaned: “Why did Klopp give him more than 45 mins? Madness!”
Konate’s injury was the only blot on an otherwise successful evening’s football for Liverpool. They smashed five past Sparta Prague to seal all but book their place in the Europa League quarter-finals.
Nunez grabbed two goals, both of which were stunners, while Luis Diaz, Alexis Mac Allister and Szoboszlai also got on the scoresheet.
Victory against Man City at the weekend would move Liverpool well clear at the top of the table and would likely make them favourites to win the Premier League. Defeat however will see Pep Guardiola’s side leapfrog them into first place.
