Joe Gomez was substituted at half-time of Liverpool’s victory over Sparta Prague to manage his game-time.
The 26-year-old had racked up four 90-minute outings within a short period ahead of the Europa League last-16 first-leg tie in the Czech capital. In the previous two matches, Gomez had operated in central midfield.
He was back on the right-hand side defence against Sparta as Jurgen Klopp’s side romped to a 5-1 triumph. With Liverpool leading 3-0 at the break, courtesy of an Alexis Mac Allister penalty and a Darwin Nunez double, Gomez did not emerge for the second period. He was replaced by Conor Bradley, who bagged an unfortunate own goal less than a minute after the restart.
Liverpool then saw Ibrahima Konate forced off with an issue but regained full control through strikes from Luis Diaz and Dominik Szoboszlai. The Reds now turn their attention to facing Manchester City on Sunday in a huge showdown in the Premier League title race. Jurgen Klopp’s side currently lead champions City by a point.
And while Konate may be doubtful, there are no fears over Gomez. Reds boss Klopp said: “We don’t know [yet]. Ibou said to me when he passed me in that moment, ‘I thought if I do another sprint then it could be bad.’ So, he said he should be fine, but we don’t know.
“Joey is fine. We took him off, he played a lot of games so that was more rotation, precaution. Now let’s see what is with Ibou.”
