Liverpool handed major injury concern ahead of Manchester United clash

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Evening Standard

·11 ottobre 2025

Liverpool handed major injury concern ahead of Manchester United clash

Any lengthy lay-off for the Frenchman leaves Liverpool with just two senior centre-backs

Liverpool could be faced with a defensive emergency against Manchester United after Ibrahima Konate was forced to withdraw from international duty.

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A thigh problem forced the Frenchman off early in the second half of his side’s Premier League defeat at Chelsea last weekend, but there was encouragement for Reds fans when Konate joined up with Didier Deschamps’s squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Iceland.

That joy may be short-lived, however, as it has now emerged that the 26-year-old defender has been released from France’s squad without seeing a minute of action, and will return to Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre for his fitness to be assessed.

Konate reportedly sat out team training for several days this week before taking place in Wednesday’s session at Clairefontaine, France’s national centre.

Despite being pictured alongside his countrymen during that work-out, he was an unused substitute during Friday night’s 3-0 win over Azerbaijan and has now been dropped from Deschamps’s group, with Benjamin Pavard taking his place ahead of Monday’s fixture in Iceland.

There was no suggestion that the injury sustained against Chelsea has worsened, but Konate not being deemed fit to feature at all for France will surely concern Liverpool boss Arne Slot, who may now have just two fit senior centre-backs at his disposal when fierce rivals United come to Anfield on 19 October.

Jarell Quansah was allowed to join Bayer Leverkusen this summer, and Italian youngster Giovanni Leoni was brought in but will miss most if not all of the campaign after suffering an ACL injury a few weeks ago.

Ibrahima Konate in training with the France national team this week

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Coupled with the collapse of a transfer deadline day move for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi, it means if Konate is forced to spend some time on the sidelines Slot will only have Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk to call upon when it comes to recognised central defenders.

Wataru Endo is thought to be one possible stand-in in the position, but he also withdrew from national team duty this week due to an undisclosed injury. Otherwise, Slot’s back-ups may consist of the likes of left-back Andy Robertson and midfielder Ryan Gravenberch.

Konate’s availability will undoubtedly be a hot topic when the Dutch manager faces the media next week.