Cody Gakpo will not be part of Liverpool’s squad for Wednesday’s trip to Aston Villa as he continues to recover from the ankle injury sustained in the Merseyside derby.
The Dutch forward suffered the knock during last week’s 2-2 draw at Goodison Park, forcing him to miss the Reds’ 2-1 win over Wolves at Anfield. His absence was a rare one this season, having previously featured in every Premier League game, and there were initial hopes he could recover in time for Villa Park. However, Arne Slot has confirmed that Gakpo remains unavailable, though his return is not far off.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the Liverpool boss also provided updates on both Cody Gakpo and Joe Gomez, who have been sidelined with injuries.
“I think both are not available for tomorrow,” Slot told reporters. “I think both [Gakpo and Gomez] are not available for tomorrow. Cody is close to being back and Joe will take quite a long time. He is going to be out for numerous weeks because of a hamstring injury.”
On Gomez, Slot added: “He tries everything to be with the team. He works really hard to come back and then first game when he came back, after two or three minutes we saw him making a sprint and now he is out for weeks again.
That’s always very hard for a player in every part of the season, let alone in the part of the season that everybody is looking forward to. He will miss a large part of the end of the season but we expect him to be back in the end phase of the season. He might [need surgery] but that is something we still have to assess.”
Luis Diaz is likely to continue on the left wing in Gakpo’s absence, while Slot has options in attack with Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota both available. Jota started centrally against Wolves but, given his recent return from injury, Nunez could be brought in to lead the line at Villa Park.
Curtis Jones is available again after serving a suspension, providing a boost in midfield, but Tyler Morton (shoulder) remains out.
Liverpool head into the clash against a Villa side currently ninth in the table after a 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town. Unai Emery’s men have been formidable at home, losing just once at Villa Park in the Premier League this season, with only Arsenal managing to take all three points
