National World Top Stories Update Thursday 1 January, 2026
One of Liverpool’s key players was dealing with an injury during their goalless draw against Leeds United.
Reds manager Arne Slot confirmed that the player - who did not have his best game against Daniel Farke’s side - is nursing an issue, which is why he was substituted off early in the second half.
Liverpool were held to a stalemate at Anfield - despite controlling possession, the Reds struggled to create clear chances. Hugo Ekitike and Virgil van Dijk both went close either side of the break, but that was the closest they got.
In the 66th minute, attacker Florian Wirtz was subbed off for Cody Gakpo. The German, who joined Liverpool for £100m in the summer transfer window, and scored his first Liverpool goal in the 2-1 win over Wolves last time out. Against Leeds, he struggled to find space on the left wing.
Speaking after the game to LFCTV, Slot said: “It's a lot to ask for the players who were fit. 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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