Liverpool winger Cody Gakpo is an injury “doubt” for the Premier League clash with Fulham this weekend, Reds head coach Andoni Iraola has confirmed.
The Reds made a winning start to their Champions League campaign on Wednesday night, beating Atletico Madrid 2-1 after falling behind in the first half.
Bradley Barcola enjoyed a good debut for Liverpool, but he limped off after the break, with Iraola providing an update on him and Milos Kerkez after the game:
“Milos and Bradley were just cramping [and] were just tired. I think I always want to do subs because of this, because you’ve given everything, you don’t have any more, perfect. We do the subs, not because you haven’t run and I have to sub you. So, I prefer when you’ve done everything you can and then we sub you because you cannot run anymore.”
On X, journalist Lewis Steele gave the latest on Gakpo’s situation from Iraola’s press conference, having missed the victory over Atletico through injury:
“Cody Gakpo remains a doubt for Saturday, says Andoni Iraola. He had niggles in both legs after the Ipswich game. Nothing major but 50/50 whether it’s all fine in time for Saturday.”
Liverpool’s added depth now alleviates injuries
The hope is that Gakpo is fully available for Saturday’s visit of Fulham in the league, with Iraola praising his professionalism recently, having not earned a move to Manchester City:
“I have no doubt with Cody. He has been very good all the pre-season, has started very well this season, producing numbers. Cody knows how much we value him, I think there is no doubt. I rate him very highly.”
Barcola will hopefully also be available this weekend, but Liverpool do now at least have more depth in wide areas, with Rio Ngumoha and Victor Munoz also options to start, and Jeremie Frimpong arguably better higher up the pitch instead of at right-back.
For Gakpo, it may now be a case of having a squad role instead of regular starts, but Barcola was deployed on the right wing against Atletico, which may leave the Dutchman’s left-sided berth available if he continues there.