Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola has confirmed Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo will both be unavailable for this weekend’s Premier League clash with Manchester City at Anfield.
The duo have been among the most in-form Liverpool players in the early weeks of the season however both had to withdraw from international duty after suffering injuries during their countries’ respective UEFA Nations League clashes.
Isak sustained a thigh injury in Sweden’s match against Romania while Gakpo was on the receiving end of a poor challenge from Serbia’s Sasa Lukic.
“Alex Isak and Cody Gakpo will not play the game,” Iraola said. “They are not ready. Unfortunately for us, both got injuries during the international break. As a club manager, you are always waiting until the games and [hoping] the doctor doesn’t call you or give you bad news. In this case we have been unlucky.
“Cody has an ankle injury. He has had some before in his career and it’s a matter of him dealing with the pain. When you twist your ankle, it was a really bad tackle I think, he is doing things individually but he isn’t ready for Sunday.
“Alex has a thigh injury. It’s not a massive injury, it’s a small injury. Whenever he feels ready. They both don’t look like long-term, we will be analysing day to day but they aren’t going to be ready on Sunday.
“[Lewis] Koumas has our trust. I don’t think it’s a big surprise. I have always liked the player. He has already shown in important minutes that he is ready to go. We also have other players who can cover the positions. Now we will need to make decisions.”
Elaborating on how Liverpool’s forward line could look against City, Iraola added: “Even before that we don’t have Hugo Ekitike, that is another striker I am looking forward to having available but we don’t have Hugo, we don’t have Alex. We will maybe recover Fede Chiesa but he hasn’t played any minutes as he has been recovering from injury and has been doing a very good job in the international break with the small group we have.
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“Of the four No. 9s it’s true we probably have only Koumas but we have some other options, wingers who have played up front in other teams and I think we will put an 11 with level enough to compete throughout the game.”
This will be City’s first outing since an independent commission found them guilty of breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules. The club deny any wrongdoing and have appealed the decision however that is unlikely to diminish the noise around Sunday’s fixture.
“Every game is an exciting game,” Iraola said. “We are playing at home at Anfield against City who is top of the league right now. They have won all of their games and I think we will go for the game. I think it will be quite an open game and we have to be ready and also use the help from our supporters and I hope we are at the level of the game that’s going to be high.”
