Ibrahima Konate plays down injury and ‘will be ready’ for Liverpool’s next match
Liverpool have been given a big boost as centre-back Ibrahima Konate confirmed his arm injury will not force him to miss any games for the club.
The defender sustained a knock in this weekend’s 2-1 victory Premier League over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday and was replaced at half-time by Joe Gomez.
There were worries that Konate had done serious damage to his arm which would have put him on the sidelines for a number of weeks.
Fortunately for the Merseyside club the 25-year-old posted a positive update on his instagram following a medical assessment after the game.
He wrote: “Thanks for all the messages of support. 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.”
Konate’s availability is a huge help for Liverpool during a period where matches are coming thick and fast. The Reds first host Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday evening followed by a potentially difficult Premier League encounter at home to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Arne Slot’s side are competing for automatic qualification in the European top-flight and sit second in the table (behind Villa) after three games. A win against Leverkusen will give them one foot in the next round with half of the league phase games played. As for the Premier League, the Reds are top of the table following the Brighton win as their rivals Man City and Arsenal both lost at the weekend.
Slot will be aware of the constant pressure on his team to deliver a trophy after such a strong start to the campaign but Liverpool’s injury list is slowly growing with first-choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker, right-back Conor Bradley, midfielder Harvey Elliott and forwards Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa all unavailable.