Liverpool’s Injury Headache Ahead of Manchester City Just Got Worse
Andoni Iraola did not sugarcoat it when he fronted the media this week. Both Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo will be unavailable for Sunday’s trip to face Manchester City, a double blow that lands at the worst possible moment given how thin Liverpool’s attacking options already looked heading into the international break.
What Exactly Is Wrong With Isak and Gakpo
Gakpo’s issue is an ankle problem that Iraola described as the product of a nasty tackle, one he admitted the forward has dealt with before in his career. Isak’s is a thigh complaint which, while not considered serious or long term, is enough to rule him out of a fixture of this magnitude. “We have been unlucky,” Iraola admitted, stressing that neither issue looks like it will drag on for weeks but that there was no way either man was risked against City.
A Squad Already Stretched Thin
The timing could hardly be worse. Hugo Ekitike and Federico Chiesa remain unavailable, meaning Iraola now has a genuinely threadbare set of options to choose from in attack. Bradley Barcola, Victor Munoz, Rio Ngumoha and Lewis Koumas are the names left standing, and it is Koumas who appears to have the clearest path to a starting role up top.
Iraola was pointed in his praise for the teenager, making clear this would be no surprise call. “Koumas has our trust. We don’t think it’s a big surprise, I have always liked the player and he has already shown he is ready to go,” he said, while leaving the door open to other solutions depending on how the picture develops before kickoff.
Our Take
Losing two senior forwards in one week is the kind of situation that exposes whether a squad really has the depth it is supposed to have. Iraola’s willingness to back Koumas without hesitation says plenty about how highly the teenager is rated internally, but facing City with a makeshift front line is still a considerable gamble. Liverpool fans will hope this is a one match problem rather than the start of a longer injury crisis.