Liverpool has welcomed Mohamed Salah back into the fold after the Africa Cup of Nations but Arne Slot has another injury concern in defense ahead of the game with Marseille
12:26, 20 Jan 2026Updated 12:38, 20 Jan 2026
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate.
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate.(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Liverpool boss Arne Slot is sweating over the fitness of defender Ibrahima Konate ahead of the Champions League game with Marseille.
The French defender played against Burnley on Saturday but was absent as Slot's players trained on Tuesday ahead of the trip to Marseille. There was a welcome return for Mohamed Salah, though, as the Egyptian looks set to feature after his return from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Slot will provide an update on the duo and the rest of his squad when he faces the media on Tuesday evening, with Liverpool's squad likely to be announced before the players board their flight to France.
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The Reds will announce a traveling party later today ahead of Slot speaking to the media. Joe Gomez could step up at center-back if Konate proves to be unavailable.
There has been pressure in some quarters for Liverpool to dip into the January market for defensive reinforcements. Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni are both out for the season and Gomez has proven to be injury-prone in the past.
However, Slot recently played down the chances of something happening in the next couple of weeks while insisting that everyone was on the same page behind the scenes.
"You think we have more options in the front? I am surprised people are so focused on our last line," Slot said on Friday.
"We don't have an injury in our midfield so that is the line we don't have them but I think I have said it in the press conference but I can say it one more time.
"Everyone is aligned, everyone knows what the challenges are, and we all agree but that is not to say there is no possibility for us to act because, as you know, this club has always waited for the right moment and never from a position of panic.
"We always do the right things at the right moment. The one who was here before me had some issues at the back as well in a certain season.
"If the right player arrives for multiple reasons no matter what the position in our team - it could be last line, midfield or attack - then we will act.
"If not we do it with the players we have because Wata (Wataru Endo) has come back now as well. At this moment there are only three players who are out with long-term injuries (Leoni, Bradley and Alexander Isak).
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"[We won't move] unless it's an opportunity or a chance in the market, but I think we have shown in this window or in the summer how we act. That has been meticulous and a very detailed process that is not done in two weeks but over a long period of time but then we act at the right moment.
"But if there is an opportunity in the market or if things get even worse, we can have a different situation."