Liverpool: Andoni Iraola issues Joe Gomez injury update as Jeremy Jacquet debut plan confirmed | OneFootball

New Reds boss already feeling weight of club’s centre-back shortage

Joe Gomez is set to miss the start of the Premier League season after suffering a muscular injury less than ten minutes into Liverpool’s first pre-season friendly of the summer, Andoni Iraola has revealed.

The Reds have won two from two in pre-season so far, getting the better of Sunderland and Wrexham as Iraola gets to grips with his new side.

An injury to Gomez in the defeat of the Black Cats has brought back to the fore questions of Liverpool’s threadbare defence, which is dearly lacking centre-backs with Giovani Leoni still injured and Virgil van Dijk training in Kirkby. The summer signing Jacquet is yet to feature this summer.

Gomez has struggled for consistent fitness throughout his career and is once again facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after going down with a miscellaneous muscle problem.

Iraola explained: “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.

“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.

Debut pending: Jeremy Jacquet

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“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.”

Such a timeline would see Gomez ruled out until late August, meaning he could be set to miss Liverpool’s first two matches of the Premier League campaign, away at Newcastle and at home to Nottingham Forest.

There is hope, though, as Jacquet prepares to make his debut for the club. The young centre-back joined from Rennes earlier this summer but is still recovering from a shoulder injury sustained in the spring, which has prevented him from being involved in either of Liverpool’s friendlies so far this summer.

Iraola expects he will be ready to make his comeback alongside a number of his new team-mates.

“My idea is for Ryan [Gravenberch], for Florian [Wirtz], for Alex [Isak], for even Jeremy Jacquet to have their first minutes against Leeds,” said the Spaniard.

“We’ll see how many minutes they can play but we have to start slowly, slowly integrating more of the senior players that have had less training sessions. I think they should be ready on the weekend to have their first minutes.”

Gravenberch, Wirtz and Isak all joined up with the Liverpool squad after the Sunderland match having been granted extra time off following the World Cup. They played no part against Wrexham in New York City.