As Liverpool prepare for Saturday afternoon’s Premier League clash with Wolves, it remains unclear who will be available for the game against underground club Conor Bradley, who was sent off at half-time after colliding with Spurs defender Jed Spence during last Saturday’s 2-1 win over Tottenham, with manager Arn Slott saying there is a “50-50 chance” he will be available. Kodi Gakpo, who has missed the past three games with a muscle issue, is given the same odds of playing.
If neither player is available, he is likely to feature in the home game against Leeds United on New Year’s Day. Florian Wertz is expected to be healthy as he was substituted in the second half of Spurs’ win due to cramps, which were not thought to be serious. However, Alexander Isak was injured when he was tackled by Tottenham’s Micky van de Ven when scoring the opening goal, and will undergo surgery on Monday for an ankle injury that includes a fractured fibula, and is now certain to miss the match.
Joe Gomez remains sidelined with a muscular injury that forced him to leave early in last weekend’s game against Brighton, while Wataru Endo remains sidelined with an ankle problem and Dominik Szoboszlai is suspended after receiving his fifth yellow card of the season in the Premier League last Saturday.
Mohamed Salah is currently playing for Egypt at the African Cup of Nations in Morocco, but teenage defender Giovanni Leoni remains sidelined for the remainder of the campaign following anterior cruciate ligament surgery in September.
“It’s time for the players we have to do what they have done many times before and give their all, not only the players but also the fans, to help us in the best possible way to get the result we want,” Slott said.
“Therefore, the players who are available will need to give everything they have, just like the fans, as always.”
The Dutch coach insisted that most of the injury problems were not due to overload, explaining, “Most of the injuries we have have nothing to do with overload. If you look at Alex’s injury, it has nothing to do with overload on the player. Same with Wataru Endo.”
“Of course there are one or two things that could have to do with overload. Kodi Gakpo has muscle and the same goes for Joe Gomez.”
