Liverpool defender Joe Gomez had an injection in his knee last week but is fit to be involved against PSV Eindhoven.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the Champions League tie, head coach Arne Slot confirmed that the 28-year-old remains available for selection but is dealing with an issue.
“Normally, I wouldn’t go into detail but he had an injection last week on his knee,” Slot said. “So, that means that’s normally not because you don’t feel anything.
“Apart from maybe me making the decision to play Dom or someone else in that position, this is also to do with him not being completely fit.
“He is one of the five defenders we have (available). He is in the group tomorrow, as he was on Saturday. But (he) wasn’t able to train last week every single time.”
Gomez has only started twice for Liverpool this season, both of which came in the Carabao Cup against Southampton and Crystal Palace.
The form of Ibrahima Konate has opened up the question of replacing the France international with Gomez to partner captain Virgil van Dijk in the starling XI, but it could put further strain on the 28-year-old who is the only other fit senior centre-back and has a concerning injury history.
Fellow centre-back Giovanni Leoni remains out with a long-term knee issue and Liverpool are also set to be without Florian Wirtz, Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong again for the upcoming fixture.
With Frimpong and Bradley out, it leaves Slot with a dilemma at right-back. Midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jomes appear the most likely options if Gomez is not risked
Konate’s form has dipped this season (Molly Darlington/Getty Images)
Slot’s side have lost eight of their last 11 matches and the 3-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest at Anfield saw the season hit a new low.
The Dutchman said the current situation was “ridiculous, almost” and “unexpected”, but he does not believe his players have lost the ability to fight.
Van Dijk had suggested after the defeat to Forest that the players needed to take more responsibility. Slot said that the amount of goals his side had conceded was “close to ridiculous for a club like us” and his agreed his players needed to defend situations better and with more intensity.
“No, we haven’t (lost fight) but in moments of games, we have lost many duels.” Slot said. “The last game we played, we had 75 per cent ball possession so you only have to defend 25 per cent of the time. In and around our box, we only have to defend four times but the first one was a set piece that led to a goal, the second one was a goal that for me was incorrectly disallowed because I didn’t see the handball — but maybe I didn’t see the right angle — and the third time was the 2-0.
“It is not a thing over 90 minutes that we are not ready or we are not defending well enough. We only have to defend a few times but I’ve had this in the past — not losing six games in seven — that I experienced that a team that had so much ball possession for half an hour, waiting to score a goal, but you only have to defend one time and maybe are thinking ball possession not defend mode. In the moment we have to defend we are not as switched on as we should be. Maybe the answer is less ball possession because that’s what we had against Real Madrid and (Aston) Villa and both of those games we won.
“It is not a general thing because you can’t control or dominate the game, (which) we do, if you don’t win enough duels. In moments, we have to defend better. City was the same; although they were better in the first half. They did not create that much but the few times they did we were lacking intensity in our duels.”
