Florian Wirtz of Liverpool leaves the pitch with an injury during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield on August 31, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)placeholder image
Florian Wirtz of Liverpool leaves the pitch with an injury during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield on August 31, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Florian Wirtz injury news after Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Arsenal in the Premier League at Anfield.
Arne Slot has given an update on Florian Wirtz after being subbed off in Liverpool’s victory over Arsenal.
The Reds’ £100 million record signing was withdrawn in the closing stages of the 1-0 win at Anfield after receiving treatment. Dominik Szoboszlai’s 83rd-minute free-kick was enough to deliver the Premier League champions a triumph over last season’s runners-up in a largely uneventful encounter - although the home side probably deserved all three points.
Wirtz is still adapting to life in England’s top flight after arriving from Bayer Leverkusen earlier this summer. And Slot believes that the Arsenal clash was very much an introduction to the physical challenges that come with operating in the Premier League.
Speaking at his post-match press conference, the Liverpool head coach said on Wirtz: “It wasn’t an injury. It was a welcome to the Premier League. After 85 minutes, I don’t think he knew he could have cramp in so many different places and that’s what happened. That is welcome to the Premier League, welcome playing in this intensity against an Arsenal that can play really intense as well.
“That is if you bring in very good players, so talented but from different leagues and young… 22 for him, 23 for Hugo. It’s normal if you are not 27 you maybe need to make a step towards the Premier League and that’s what these two are doing and, in the meantime, we have nine points in games where we picked up five points last season. That is only a positive but we can do better. The positive is some people thought we were too open against Bournemouth but you can’t say we weren’t too open today.”
Ibrahima Konate was also forced off with a fitness issue in the second half, which appeared more serious. While the centre-back claimed he only had cramp, Slot suggested it could be worse after a scan.
Slot said:“He thinks it’s cramp. I have no reason to doubt him although sometimes players talk about scan, we make a scan and it’s more than that. Jeremie Frimpong wasn’t too happy, like some pundits and journalists when I took him out against Bournemouth because he thought he only felt a little bit but has already been out for 2-3 weeks now.
“So let’s wait and see. On a positive note, Joe Gomez, what a 15 minutes! I had to make one difficult choice today because I had to leave one player out of the squad with only Jeremie Frimpong being injured and I only have to make one difficult decision who I cannot take in the squad and the good thing was it is a centre-back, Giovanni Leoni so we are perfectly placed in that position.”
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