Liverpool suffered a major injury blow in Sunday's Premier League game against West Ham United, with Joe Gomez replaced in the first half.

The defender sustained the injury midway through the opening period as he ran to close down Max Kilman. But Gomez pulled up in immediate discomfort and seemed to signal to the bench he had suffered a hamstring injury.

Liverpool's No. 2 couldn't continue and was replaced by Jarell Quansah, who slotted in alongside Virgil van Dijk at center-back. The injury and possible time spent on the sidelines could be a huge issue for Liverpool with Ibrahima Konate currently out. It leaves Arne Slot with just two senior options at the heart of defence, and he has been reluctant to trust Quansah at times this season.

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In fact, a prolonged period out of the team would mean Slot has just five of his eight first-team defenders available, given Conor Bradley is also injured at present. However, the Dutchman did imply that both he and Konate could be back soon when speaking earlier this week.

“They will not be back for West Ham United, but then there is a week in between [before the game against United] so let’s see how close they are then,” Slot explained.

“It’s difficult for me to tell you at this moment because they don’t train with the group yet, but hopefully in the upcoming days they come closer to that situation. And then again, Ibou has been out then for five or six weeks maybe, Conor just as long I think, the same amount.

“And also for them, they are in competition with players that are completely fit and doing really well, so I have to make the right judgement the moment they are back with the team.”

While it was a disappointing half on the injury front, in terms of the Reds' performance it couldn't have gone much better. Slot's side led 3-0 at the break thanks to goals from each of Liverpool's front three - Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah. The latter scored and assisted in the same game for an eight time this season, remarkably, a Premier League record before the 2024/25 campaign has even reached the halfway point