Arne Slot is waiting to learn the extent of the injury sustained by Ibrahima Konate in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Frenchman was forced off at half-time after picking up an arm injury and looked to be in some discomfort as he was tended to by the club’s medical team.
Konate was replaced by Joe Gomez at the break, and Liverpool went on to turn the game on its head with quick-fire goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah – the latter scoring a stunning winner to render Ferdi Kadioglu’s first half goal insignificant.
“We don’t know yet. He had a lot of pain, but he hasn’t been to the hospital yet – and maybe it is not even necessary to go to the hospital, I don’t know,” Slot said of Konate after the game.
“It is always difficult to judge an injury in the first hour or first 10 minutes after it happens. Let’s hope he can be with us as soon as possible because he had a big impact on our season until now.
“But Joe deserved the trust I gave him today because he played outstanding in the second half.”
Gomez’s performance was all the more impressive as he’s been on the periphary of Liverpool’s first team this season. But the Englishman seized his opportunity to impress Slot, who spoke of the reason for turning to the 27-year-old ahead of Jarell Quansah.
“It was not only the first half that was a big disappointment, there was also the disappointment that [Konate] had to go off because he has been really good for us the whole season,” Slot continued.
“The good thing is in that position I have two very good options as well with Jarell Quansah and Joe Gomez. I took Jarell off five minutes before the end in Brighton [on Wednesday] because for 20 minutes he was already stretching and I could feel and see that he was tired, which is not so strange because he hasn’t played that much.
“Then, with 45 minutes to go [today], I felt I had to bring someone in that is fitter than Jarell was during the week.”
Liverpool are in back action on Tuesday night, taking on Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, before welcoming Aston Villa to Anfield before the final international break of the year.
