Liverpool suffer major injury blow before Man City showdown
Liverpool have been handed a major injury blow ahead of the visit from Manchester City as defender Ibrahima Konate arrived early at Anfield this afternoon.
Konate came off on Thursday against Sparta Prague in the Europa League and Jurgen Klopp explained at the time he was unsure about his fitness. However, Konate was pictured arriving with fellow injured players Curtis Jones and Trent Alexander-Arnold before the team bus arrived.
Normally, those who are in contention to feature arrive with their teammates rather than on their own earlier. The centre-back's absence from the matchday squad narrows down Klopp's options for this crucial fixture.
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With Joel Matip on the sidelines for the remainder of the season, the most likely option to partner Virgil van Dijk at the back is Joe Gomez. The 26-year-old provided Liverpool fans with a scare on Thursday night when he was replaced at half-time by Klopp.
Fortunately for the Reds, the German head coach explained post-match that the decision to bring Gomez off was merely a case of rotating the squad after the defender had played plenty of minutes. Klopp will hope Konate's absence will not affect his side too much.
Liverpool sit second in the Premier League after Arsenal beat Brentford at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening. Should they be victorious over City this afternoon they will move back to the summit of the Premier League and are likely to be the favourites to go all the way this season.
Pep Guardiola shall be missing Jack Grealish this afternoon through injury while Jeremy Doku remains a doubt after missing their midweek fixture against FC Copenhagen.
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