Liverpool hero who Van Dijk loves faces "race against time" to be fit for Man Utd clash

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Live for Liverpool or go back to LFC Live.

A concerning Liverpool injury update has emerged regarding a Reds hero ahead of next weekend’s crucial Premier League clash with Manchester United. Now, journalist Keifer MacDonald reports for This Is Anfield that Konate “faces a race against time” to face United at Anfield next Sunday afternoon, having returned to Liverpool early from France duty: “Ibrahima Konate has returned to LFC after it was decided he would not feature in France’s World Cup qualifier against Iceland on Monday.

The defender now faces a race against time to be fit for next weekend’s clash against Manchester United.” No Konate a big potential blow for Liverpool Granted, Konate’s form this season has been disappointing overall, with too much sloppiness on show both in and out of possession, but he is still an important player for Liverpool – one who they need to stay fit after injury problems throughout his career. As you saw, he is important with the goal, he is defensively solid, a bit unlucky with the goal we conceded, but obviously the qualities he has are outstanding in my opinion.

He is learning, growing, getting better and looking after himself much better in order to be ready every three days as that’s what asked.” Hopefully, Konate’s return to Liverpool is more precautionary than anything, but if he does miss out at home to United, it may give Joe Gomez a big opportunity to shine, with Giovanni Leoni out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury. He is also a main contributor for This Is Anfield, one of the world's biggest Reds-related sites, where he writes features and news, and covers matchday content.