Andoni Iraola has issued a concerning injury update on his Liverpool squad ahead of their Champions League fixture against LASK on Wednesday.
The Reds were without several key players for the 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester City on Sunday, with long-term absentees Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni accompanied by Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak after their respective body blows on international duty.
The Merseysiders were dealt a blow just over an hour before kick-off when it emerged that Dominik Szoboszlai had sustained a hamstring injury while representing his country, which also precluded him from featuring yesterday.
Iraola gives worrying injury update on Liverpool squad
In his post-match press conference, Iraola was prompted for further information on the Hungary midfielder, and the head coach indicated that the tight turnaround could make it hard for any of the injured players to return for the game against LASK.
The Basque said (via liverpoolfc.com): “Dom came from the national team with tightness, an overload. We put him as a floater in the training and tried to protect him but he was feeling something very small.
“It’s true that now we play four games in 10 days, so it’s going to be difficult because we fly to Austria in two days. I think it’s going to be difficult to recover any of the players.”
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Iraola unlikely to take any unnecessary risks
Liverpool hadn’t been overly affected by injuries in the early weeks of the season, but the casualties are beginning to mount at the worst possible time, with the Reds facing eight more fixtures in the next 28 days.
Iraola hasn’t definitively ruled out Szoboszlai for the match in Austria, but it’d seem that Wednesday will come a bit too soon for the Hungarian to recover, so it appears more likely that a return against Brentford next weekend will be targeted.
The pitch at LASK’s Raiffeisen Arena was a bone of contention when we played there in the Europa League three years ago, and Kasper Schmeichel also voiced concerns about the surface when Celtic lost there in August of this year.
With that in mind, the Liverpool boss probably won’t want to take any unnecessary risks with any of the players who are nursing injuries, and squad management will also be vital amid such a hectic run of fixtures for the Reds.
Iraola will almost certainly be prompted for further updates on Szoboszlai, Isak and co when he holds his pre-match press conference in Austria on Tuesday. Fingers crossed for good news from the Basque tomorrow.