It’s an extremely quick turnaround for Arne Slot and Liverpool FC, as the Merseyside Derby rapidly approaches. Let’s revisit and review the team injury/fitness situation again, with a keen focus on Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley and Kostas Tsimikas. Yes, the dust has barely settled on a wild 3-3 draw at Newcastle United, but it’s already time to talk about Everton.
“Today I only had five defenders available,” Slot said after the win over Manchester City on Sunday.
Liverpool FC at Everton FYIs
Merseyside Derby Kickoff: Saturday, December 7 at 12.30pm local, Goodison Park
Liverpool Preview Content: Team News Starting XI Prediction
Google Result Probability: Everton victory 13% Draw 19% Liverpool victory 68%
PL Standing, Form: Everton 15th, 14 pts, LDDLW Liverpool 1st, 35 pts, WWWWD
“They will both (Konate and Conor Bradley) be out for a few weeks.
“I have said many times before, it is always difficult to judge how many weeks this exactly is because you can think in the beginning, ‘oh, probably going to be like this,’ and the end stage of an injury process can always differ a bit.
“But they will not be in the team this week for sure, both of them.”
While Konate (knee) and Bradley (thigh) are ruled out for a bit to awhile, Tsimikas (foot) should be back in action sooner, albeit not on Sunday.
“And actually I don’t think Kostas will be with us in the upcoming week as well.”
Diogo Jota and Alisson Becker (hamstring) remain out for another week or so as well.
As for Federico Chiesa, Lord only knows, as all timelines to return for him have proven inaccurate.
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, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America 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, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.