The games are coming so thick and fast at the moment that before the dust settled on our draw with Aston Villa, Arne Slot was facing the media to preview our match against Manchester City.
As usual, the boss was asked to provide an injury update on his squad and began by speaking about Cody Gakpo: “Let’s see, I hope [he’s available], I’m not 100% sure.
“He hasn’t trained with the team yet. Maybe he does a bit today. I don’t know exactly. It will be a close call.”
Next up was Conor Bradley, who picked up an issue at Villa Park, and the 46-year-old stated: “No, he [Bradley] still has to come in, so we don’t know yet.
“I would be completely surprised if he’s involved in the Sunday game, or the Wednesday game against Newcastle. You can assume that’s not going to happen.”
Finally, we heard some news on Joe Gomez: “Joe Gomez had surgery for his hamstring injury, so he’s out for a long time. He will be back maybe just before the end of the season.”
Before a final squad overview: “Then, of course, these two players are not injured but they come back from an injury – [Diogo] Jota and Trent [Alexander-Arnold], so that’s also the reason they don’t play 90 minutes five times in a row in 15 days.
“That would be a big risk, we could see this yesterday with Conor Bradley.”
It’s a blow that we are losing two important defensive options for a number of games, with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s fitness also needing to be managed too.
This leaves us very light at the back for a crucial few weeks at least, whilst crossing fingers for no further issues in the squad.
Arne Slot is going to have to carefully manage his squad
It’s going to be another balancing act up top, with no need to rush our No.18 and Diogo Jota being nursed back to full health meaning that Darwin Nunez could likely have a role at the Etihad Stadium.
Given the fallout from his miss in Birmingham and his social media antics on Thursday, it could be the perfect opportunity to silence some doubters.
Many will bemoan a lack of January transfer activity to have left us so bare at the back bit we have seen several times this season that Jarell Quansah can operate at right back if needed.
By next Wednesday we would have played five matches in 15 days, though four matches in the entirety of March and just one being in the Premier League – could be seen as some respite for our tired squad.
Let’s hope we get through it all with no injuries and lots of points.
You can watch Slot’s injury update via Liverpool FC on YouTube:
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