Arne Slot has confirmed that he expects Joe Gomez to be out for ‘quite a bit’ after the defender suffered a hamstring injury in Liverpool’s 5-0 thrashing of West Ham. The England international has been first-choice for the Reds over the last month, starting all eight of their matches in December in the absence of the injured Ibrahima Konate.
However, he pulled up after 37 minutes at the London Stadium, clutching the back of his leg. Replaced by Jarell Quansah, he would later confirm in the mixed zone that he had suffered a hamstring injury.
Now set to undergo a scan to discover the severity of the issue, Slot confirmed after the game that he expected to be without Gomez for a prolonged period.
“You saw today an injury of Joe Gomez. If a player says he wants to stop, he has to be changed,” he told Sky Sports. “In a sprint, then we all know it’s a hamstring and we all know it’s going to take a while before he is back.
“I don’t know how long but he will be out for quite a bit. These situations can happen in a season.”With Konate not yet back in team training, Quansah is on standby to partner Virgil van Dijk at centre-back when Liverpool return to action at home to Newcastle United next weekend.
And the England Under-21s international, who hasn’t started a Premier League match since the opening day of the season, insists he will be ready if called upon despite his lack of action this season.“It’s such a massive game (against Manchester United) but I just see it as another game we need to win,” Quansah told the club website. “Anything I can do to help the team, if I’m asked to do so, then I’m ready.
“It’s the training we’ve put in and just [about] trying to feel as confident as you can coming onto the pitch really and knowing that you are ready. I think the coaching staff have done a great job of helping us with that – obviously I’ve not played too many minutes but just being ready and knowing that I am ready will always put me in good stead.
“It’s tireless work. It’s hard, to be honest. Obviously you are training a lot, you are running a lot [post-match], but yeah, it’s just trying to keep your body ready and training good habits. That’s what you’ve got to do: just stay ready.”
