Aston Villa vs Liverpool team news. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)Aston Villa vs Liverpool team news. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Aston Villa vs Liverpool team news. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images
Liverpool earned a 3-1 win over Southampton but Cody Gakpo was absent from the squad yet again.
Arne Slot admitted that Cody Gakpo was not fit enough to be included in Liverpool’s squad against Southampton - and was not being saved for next week’s fixtures.
Gakpo was absent for the 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16 first leg earlier this week. He suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury that forced him out of two games last month.
Slot admitted at his pre-Southampton press conference that it would be a ‘close call’ as to whether the Netherlands international could be involved in the game. Liverpool delivered a 3-1 win to move 16 points clear at the summit of the Premier League - although it was not straightforward and trailed at half-time.
Liverpool’s attention now turns to the return clash against PSG on Tuesday before they face Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday 16 March. And although those two games are seismic, Slot regarded the Southampton game as just as important - and would have had Gakpo among the substitutes if he could have.
Slot said: “No, otherwise I would have taken him because this was the most important game of the week. The first of three finals so if I would have been able, I would have definitely had him on the bench. Unfortunately, he wasn't. The next two finals, I do hope we play better than the first one.”