Liverpool have been dealt a fresh blow after a key first-team star was forced to withdraw from international duty with injury on Saturday.
The Reds suffered three successive defeats in the build-up to October’s international break, losing twice in the Premier League to Crystal Palace and Chelsea and falling to Galatasaray in the Champions League.
After their 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge last Saturday, Liverpool conceded top spot to Arsenal in the table, casting a small doubt over their hopes of retaining the title next summer after shelling out a fortune on the likes of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz in the summer.
The club’s misfortunes continued on Saturday as first-team centre-back Ibrahima Konate was forced to withdraw from France’s World Cup qualifier against Iceland on Monday night.
Konate was forced off midway through Liverpool’s defeat against Chelsea with a thigh injury but still joined Didier Deschamps’ squad on international duty.
He took part in light training ahead of France’s 3-0 win over Azerbaijan on Friday, before sitting on the bench for the entirety of the game.
Liverpool have been dealt a fresh blow after first-team star Ibrahima Konate was forced to withdraw from international duty with injury on Saturday – days ahead of facing Man United
Konate, above with Kylian Mbappe (right), only took part in light training before his withdrawal
Arne Slot’s Liverpool side suffered three successive defeats prior to the international break
Eager not to worsen the injury by taking any chances, Konate has now left the French squad and returned to Liverpool.
Speaking on the injury after the loss in west London, Slot said: ‘I don’t know if it is a big injury, but what I do know is he limped a little bit and when I asked him he said he felt his quad a little bit.
‘Then, for me, all alarm bells go off because in another sprint you never know if that is going to go good.
‘It might be OK that he went off early enough but it was clear I had to take him off because he was limping.’
Liverpool will hope the Frenchman can recover in time for Manchester United’s trip to Anfield next Sunday, with the Red Devils earning a much-needed 2-0 victory over Sunderland before the break to climb up to 10th in the table.
The clash with their bitter rivals kickstarts a busy spell for Liverpool, who must travel to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League in midweek before returning to face Brentford the following weekend, marking three games in six days.
