Liverpool FC broke out of their recent awful slump, in a big way, last night, beating Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in the UEFA Champions League. Will that momentum carry over to the league? Well, they have a couple new injury concerns to contend with in Alexander Isak and Jeremie Frimpong.
Let’s start with with Alex Isak, the most expensive player in British football history. He’s suffered a fitness setback, as he now has a new groin injury to contend with.
Liverpool FC vs Brentford FYIs
Kickoff: 8pm, Saturday Oct. 25, GTech Community Stadium, London, UK
Liverpool Preview Material: Team News Predicted Starting XI
Result Probability: Liverpool win 56% Brentford FC win 22% Draw 22%
Premier League Standing, Form: Liverpool FC 3rd, 15 Pts, WWLLL Brentford FC 13th, 10 pts, DLWLW
Reds Team News
Reds boss Arne Slot summed it up last night: “Alex was close a few times but had to go off at half-time, and that’s the difficult balance we were having with him. He had to come off because he felt his groin. Let’s hope for the best.”
You can pretty much rule him out for Saturday, and then we’ll just have to go from there. Obviously, his not having any preseason at all, due to his bitter holdout and stand off with his last club, Newcastle United, is really adversely impacting him now.
As for Frimpong, he’s going to be out for a bit, with a hamstring injury. Maybe a mid-to-late November return for him.
“Jeremie is a hamstring issue,” Slot said.
“He came back from a hamstring injury a few weeks ago and played for the national team one game, came back to us and now, unfortunately, after 10, 15 minutes, I don’t know, he had to go off.”
And then of course, Ryan Gravenberch, Alisson Becker and Giovanni Leoni remain sidelined.
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. 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, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter