Liverpool gets Ibrahima Konate injury boost after being forced off against Arsenal
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Ibrahima Konate has handed Liverpool a major injury boost after limping off during Sunday’s win over Arsenal.
The defender was forced off late on at Anfield, shortly before Dominik Szoboszlai’s free-kick earned the Reds a 1-0 victory and maintained their perfect record so far this season.
Given Konate’s injury record, there were obvious fears among supporters as he was seen limping off the pitch, and those concerns weren’t eased when a deadline day move for Marc Guehi collapsed at the eleventh hour, despite a deal having been agreed with Crystal Palace and the England international having already undergone a medical.
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Konate though has now eased any worries over his fitness after being pictured in training with France during the international break.
The 26-year-old was called up by Didier Deschamps for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Iceland and, despite his injury scare on Sunday, reported for duty on Monday before taking part in training.
Konate has been joined by Liverpool teammate Hugo Ekitike, who earned his first senior call-up following an injury to Rayan Cherki.
Konate’s involvement will come as a relief to Arne Slot, who was keeping his fingers crossed after the defender’s withdrawal on Sunday.
“He thinks it is cramp and I have no reason to doubt him, although sometimes players talk about cramp and then we make a scan and it is more than that,” Slot said after the game.
The Liverpool boss will also be pleased to see Florian Wirtz involved in training with Germany ahead of tomorrow’s World Cup qualifier against Slovakia
The summer signing was also forced off against Arsenal, although Slot played down concerns over a possible issue.
“It wasn’t an injury, it was a welcome to the Premier League!” Slot said.
That is welcome to the Premier League, that is welcome to playing in this intensity against an Arsenal that can play really intense as well.”
Liverpool.com says: It’s good to see Konate’s issue was clearly nothing serious
Any time you see him go down, you do fear the worst.
It’s going to be vital now that Liverpool keeps him fit until at least January, when it will get another chance to sign Guehi, although even then the deal might not go through.
Fingers crossed Deschamps goes easy on Konate during the international break, although William Saliba’s injury might wreck Liverpool’s hopes there.