Liverpool achieved a really nice win, over Atletico Madrid, in their Champions League opener last night. However the match did generate three new fitness concerns, in Cody Gakpo, Bradly Barcola and Milos Kerkez. However, as it turns out, only the first name we mentioned is a doubt for Saturday.
Gakpo, who sat out the game as a precautionary measure, is a 50/50 proposition for the next match, a Premier League fixture at home versus Fulham, due to an adductor injury. Barcola and Kerkez had to be subbed off early, but that was only due to cramping.
Liverpool FC vs Fulham FYIs
Kickoff: Saturday, September 12 at 3pm local, Anfield
Google Result Probability: Fulham FC victory 14% Draw 18% Liverpool victory 68%
PL Standing, Form: Fulham 19th, 0 pts, LLL Liverpool 6th, 5 pts, DDW
Liverpool Team News
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola provided the following update on Gakpo after the game:
“Cody finished the game the other day vs Ipswich with some adductor issues. Both sides. Nothing specific. [It is] not a proper injury. But we didn’t want to risk him, and I think it makes sense [that] he rests and hope we can recover him. If it’s not for the weekend, it’s for the next one. But I think even for the weekend, he has a chance.”
As for Kerkez, he was subbed off for Kostas Tsimikas in the 88′, and Iraola explained the substitution thusly:
”Milos and Bradley were just cramping [and] were just tired. I think I always want to do subs because of this, because you’ve given everything, you don’t have any more, perfect.
“We do the subs, not because you haven’t run and I have to sub you. So, I prefer when you’ve done everything you can and then we sub you because you cannot run anymore.”
He also said a little more on Barcola and his cramping:
“It is just cramp, there is no injury. With Bradley, it’s about building his physical condition. We don’t really know – or we didn’t know until now, probably – how much he can play because he hasn’t had any minutes in pre-season for PSG.”
”He played 30 the other day [and] today we had some question marks, how many minutes he can give us and probably now we know.”
”I’m very happy because also he has had two very clear chances against the ‘keeper. He hasn’t scored, but I want him there.”
“There is where he has to make the difference, arriving to those spots, those positions, and I’m very happy because in – I don’t know how many minutes he’s played – two times against the ‘keeper is a good sign with Bradley.”
Other than this trio of players, the Liverpool injury situation remains the same.
Joe Gomez will likely be the first long-term injured player to return to action, but it won’t likely happen this weekend. Conor Bradley, Fede Chiesa, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni remain sidelined, and we likely won’t see them back on the pitch for awhile.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.