Liverpool welcome Nottingham Forest to Anfield in the Premier League this weekend with their opponents handed both an injury blow and boost this week
Hugo Ekitike (L) will miss Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest but Morgan Gibbs-White (R) has been passed fit
Hugo Ekitike (L) will miss Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest but Morgan Gibbs-White (R) has been passed fit (Image: (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images))
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Nottingham Forest talisman Morgan Gibbs-White is available to face Liverpool but Ibrahim Sangare has been ruled out with a calf injury. Oliver Glasner's side head to Anfield having already experienced some fitness concerns in the first week of the season, while Liverpool mostly have long-term absentees.
A knee injury kept Gibbs-White out of their Carabao Cup second round defeat to Leeds United but Glasner offered a positive update on him and Ryan Yates. On Friday, he said: "Morgan is available, and Ryan Yates is available, which is good news."
Forest will be a body light in midfield, however, with their Austrian head coach revealing that Sangare, who was an unused substitute earlier this week, will not be in the matchday squad.
Glasner stated: "Ibrahim has picked up a minor calf injury in Wednesday’s training session and will miss tomorrow’s game."
Neco Williams was forced off against Leeds with a head injury but is expected to be fit while Nicolo Savona is some way off returning after suffering a setback in his recovery from a knee issue.
Liverpool are expected to have double the players absent but the majority of those are known about and the majority of those situations are unlikely to change for several months.
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Federico Chiesa and Joe Gomez are the two players that could return to action sooner rather than later after getting injured in pre-season. Andoni Iraola offered an update on the former in his Thursday press conference.
The Liverpool boss said: "Fede is not available. In the [pre-season] game against Como, he felt something at the back - it’s a small muscle injury. He is not available."
Federico Chiesa
Federico Chiesa has a back injury
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Gomez meanwhile, has been recovering from a knee injury picked up towards the end of July with Iraola admitting at the time that it would be "impossible" to have him available for the start of the season. Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni are the long-term absentees for Liverpool with no Iraola update since July.
He has, however, been recently asked about the fitness concerns surrounding Jeremy Jacquet and Alexander Isak in recent weeks with the duo having both missed large portions of last season.
However, they are both expected to start on Saturday along with Cody Gakpo despite the rumours surrounding his future. With Liverpool now expected to sign Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint-Germain, the Dutchman could be on the move in the final days of the window amid links to Tottenham and Manchester City.