Liverpool: Slot reveals Wirtz injury update ahead of Fulham game after he ‘felt his hamstring’
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has revealed an update on Florian Wirtz’s hamstring injury and other issues with his squad before Sunday’s match against Fulham.
The Reds have been on a good run of form in recent weeks, but they struggled to a disappointing 0-0 draw against Leeds United on Thursday night.
Slot‘s side found it hard to break down a resolute Leeds United side, with the Premier League giants toothless in attack without Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak.
Wirtz has been praised for his recent upturn in form, but he was pretty ineffective against Leeds and was taken off with around 25 minutes remaining.
Speaking post-match, Slot revealed that the attacking midfielder could have missed the Leeds match as he has “only trained once this week”.
“It’s a lot to ask for the players who were fit,” Slot told LFCTV.
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“As you could see today, four players with hardly any playing minutes in the Premier League were on the bench.
“Florian only trained once this week because two days after the game, he felt his hamstring still a bit.
“You try to be as careful as you can without ruining your chances of winning the game as much as you can with the schedule coming up because missing out on another one would be an even bigger problem if that’s going to take five, six or seven weeks or longer.
“The good thing was Cody Gakpo was back after an injury so I could still make a few substitutions still and these players have to do it in the upcoming weeks or months because apart from Joe Gomez, I don’t see a player coming back soon.”
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Slot has also broken down what his side lacked against Leeds United.
“A goal… that’s the most simple answer,” Slot replied when asked what was missing from his side’s performance in the 0-0 draw against Leeds United.
“And to score a goal against a team that’s defending so well in and around their box, there are a few ways to unlock it. That is for some teams in this league, or for a lot of teams in this league, a set-piece.
“We were close with Virgil [van Dijk]. We got eight – unfortunately, we didn’t score.
“Another way of unlocking it is something we saw last week against Wolves, when Jeremie Frimpong had his moment of magic, a quick one-v-one where he brought the ball in, and I think he had a few of those moments today as well.”
