Liverpool ticked off the first of three ‘finals’ this week after beating Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Reds have two more enormous matches coming up before the March international break kicks in after next weekend.
The first of those comes on Tuesday, with PSG in town for the Champions League last-16 second-leg at Anfield, before Liverpool meet Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final.
In truth, Liverpool are not heading into the week in the best of form. Despite beating both Southampton and PSG in their past two fixtures, they are starting to look leggy and cumbersome out on the pitch.
With the attack in particular feeling sluggish, it’s clear that the Reds have been missing the pace and verve of the injured Cody Gakpo.
Arne Slot had been hoping to have Gakpo available for Saturday’s game, but the Dutchman was not even involved in the matchday squad. Speaking after the 3-1 win, Slot detailed whether Gakpo is getting closer to fitness ahead of a big week.
Photo by Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images
Photo by Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images
Arne Slot pessimistic over Cody Gakpo fitness
Plenty of the talk over recent times has been how Liverpool have been ‘lucky’ with injury issues throughout the season so far.
However, while they may not have had as many troubles as Arsenal or Manchester City, the Liverpool squad has still had plenty of absentees.
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Going into two massive games, the Reds are without Gakpo, Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley, three important players in the context of the wider squad.
And asked whether Gakpo was ‘closed to being involved’ during his post-Southampton press conference, Slot sounded a pessimistic tone.
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“No, otherwise I would have taken him because this was the most important game of the week, like I told you – and the first of three finals,” he said.
“So, if he would have been able then I would have definitely had him on the bench, but unfortunately he wasn’t. I do hope the next two finals we will play a bit better than the first one.”
Will Gakpo be back to face PSG?
This does not sound especially good from Slot. There had been hope that Gakpo would be ready for Southampton, but it now appears likely that PSG will come too soon for him.
With only two more days between the matches, it will have to be a speedy recovery from the 25-year-old to make it before Tuesday’s game.
In Gakpo’s absence, Luis Diaz has started to look like he is running in treacle out on the left hand side.
Diaz was woeful in the opening 45 minutes against Southampton, following on from an incredibly disappointed performance out in Paris.
The Colombian did improve during the second period of Saturday’s game, but there will be some concern about him going again at PSG and again for Newcastle.
It could of course be that Gakpo makes it in time to be available for either game, even a cameo from the bench would be encouraging. But judging by these comments from Slot, that would now be a surprise.