Arne Slot has given a mixed update on Joe Gomez‘s injury that forced him off in Liverpool’s 1-0 FA Cup loss to Plymouth.
Against Plymouth, Gomez was playing his first game since the end of December, when he was forced off after pulling his hamstring against West Ham.
However, this Sunday afternoon, his FA Cup tie ended after just 11 minutes as he was replaced by debutant Isaac Mabaya, who played at right-back and left Wataru Endo to fill in for Gomez at centre-half.
The hamstring injury picked up at the London Stadium kept Gomez out of full team training for nearly a month.
Asked if the defender had sustained a similar issue against Plymouth, Slot said: “I’m not too sure if it was the same leg. I haven’t had time to ask him, but it was clear that I think we all know which moment he felt a bit insecure about because he didn’t sprint back fully.
“And then he said, ‘Yeah, I’m not 100 percent sure. I’m afraid if I make a sprint that things will go wrong’.”
While it was disappointing to see Gomez leave the pitch on his return, the coach did provide some relief.
“It’s not torn I assume, but it didn’t feel good for him,” Slot added.
Acting as captain in the absence of other senior professionals such as Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson, Gomez’s departure meant Liverpool were left with a team Slot hadn’t planned on fielding.
On Gomez’s exit, the boss continued: “That was a bit of a blow because Curtis Jones was on the bench but he came to me this morning and said, ‘I don’t think I’m fully recovered yet’ as well after the training session of yesterday.
“And that all of a sudden let to the fact that we were with a few more youngsters on the pitch than was the idea before the game, but still there was enough quality on the pitch to get a better result than this.”
Gomez joins Trent Alexander-Arnold on Liverpool’s short injury list.
The No. 66 looks unlikely to feature against Everton on Wednesday, especially given fellow right-back Conor Bradley‘s absence against Plymouth which indicates him starting the Merseyside Derby.
More information on Gomez’s injury should follow in the next few days.
Plymouth 1-0 Liverpool
