Liverpool injury concern as Slot delivers update on key player | OneFootball

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has revealed that Ibrahima Konate sustained a potential quad injury during Saturday’s defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The Reds fell to a late Estevao Willian tap-in after Cody Gakpo had cancelled out Moises Caicedo’s stunning first-half opener.

The result means Liverpool have dropped to second in the Premier League table, one point behind new leaders Arsenal after the Gunners beat West Ham United 2-0 at home.

Liverpool injury concern as Slot delivers update on Konate

The disappointment of losing a third successive game in all competitions was compounded by Konate’s exit in the second half. The centre-back was replaced by Curtis Jones in the 56th minute as Joe Gomez remained on the bench, with Ryan Gravenberch stepping into defence for the remainder of the match.

“I don’t know if it is a big injury, ” Slot said in his post-match press conference. “He limped a little bit. I asked him and he felt his quad.

“It was a substitution I already had in mind because the right centre-back had a lot of ball possession and we needed to create from that position. Ryan is quite good at that.

“It might be okay that he went off early enough.”

Read – Slot makes ‘unrealistic’ Chelsea comment as Liverpool lose

Liverpool will be left light at the back if Konate has to spend any time on the treatment table after Giovanni Leoni suffered cruciate ligament injury against Southampton in the League Cup last month.

That fixture was the only time Slot has rotated his centre-backs this season, which the Dutchman admitted was a risky decision.

“If I rotate against Gala, people complain I rotate,” he said. “It is a risk of playing. Konate played three games in eight days. That is the balance you need to find.

“Playing a tough game against Palace, you need strong defenders.

“When you play Chelsea away, you also need strong centre-backs. After the goal, we took the risk to play a midfielder at the back.”

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