Liverpool trained on Monday ahead of their clash with Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League
Ibrahima Konate has handed Liverpool an injury boost after taking part in open training ahead of the Reds’ Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen. The France international was in considerable pain as he was replaced at half-time with a wrist injury in their 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
However, scans revealed that the centre-back had avoided serious injury after he had his left arm accidentally trod on by team-mate Virgil van Dijk.
“We call it the jungle when we go in set-pieces because there are so many bodies out there,” the Dutchman explained after the final whistle at Anfield.
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“Unfortunately I caught him, I landed on his arm so that’s obviously quite a heavy leg that comes on your arm. It was very painful so he had to come off unfortunately.”
With Konate sustaining cuts and tissue damage to his wrist rather than a fracture, the 25-year-old took to Instagram on Sunday to confirm that he had avoided serious injury.
“Thanks for all the messages of support,” he wrote. “My injury isn’t serious thankfully. I had a scan today and it confirmed there is no break. I’ll be ready for the next game.”
Sure enough, Konate is now in contention to face Leverkusen after training as normal on Monday. If Arne Slot opts against starting the Frenchman against Xabi Alonso’s side, however, Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah will be vying to partner Van Dijk at the heart of defence.
It was Gomez who was given the nod ahead of Quansah to replace Konate against the Seagulls, as Slot praised the England international and explained his decision in his post-match press conference.
“The good thing is in that position I have two very good options as well in Jarell Quansah and Joe Gomez,” he said. “And I took Jarell off five minutes before the end against Brighton [on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup] because for 20 minutes he was already stretching.
“I could feel and see he was tired which is not strange because he hasn’t played so much. And then with 45 minutes to go I felt I had to bring someone in who is fitter than Jarell is.
“But Joe deserved the trust I gave him today because he was outstanding in the second half.
“It says a lot about his mentality today, it also says a lot about his quality. If you don’t play that much and you come in in a game where your team-mates were outplayed for 45 minutes, that you can come in and play like this.
“And it also says a lot about his mentality in the recent weeks and months where he didn’t play that much. But he was able, without playing a lot, to play 90 minutes on Wednesday and to bring in a performance like this on Saturday.
“But this is what people told me when I came in. Joe is a top, top, top professional who always, no matter what position he is in, he always gives the best for the team and for himself in the end as well.
“He got the reward for it today because I think the fans loved what they saw. I definitely did.”
While Liverpool will have Konate available, Slot remains without the services of Alisson Becker, Federico Chiesa, Harvey Elliott and Diogo Jota. The quartet were again absent from training on Monday with the Dutchman already confirming that they are expected to remain sidelined until after the November international break.
After hosting Leverkusen on Tuesday, Liverpool welcome Aston Villa to Anfield at 8pm on Saturday in their last outing before the final international break of the calendar year.
