Arne Slot provided the latest on Cody Gakpo (knock) as he faced the media on Tuesday morning.
Slot was hosting a pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s Double Gameweek 25 clash with Aston Villa.
Unai Emery and Pep Guardiola will also face questions from the media on Tuesday, so this article will be updated as and when manager quotes become available.
READ MORE: UEFA Champions League (UCL) Fantasy: Scout Picks Matchday 10
LIVERPOOL
Cody Gakpo, who picked up a knock in the Merseyside derby, is unlikely to be fit for Wednesday’s trip to Villa Park.
He is “close” to making a return, however.
Slot also provided an update on Joe Gomez (hamstring), who is set for an extended period on the sidelines.
“I think both [Gakpo and Gomez] are not available for tomorrow. Cody is close to being back and Joe will take quite a long time. He is going to be out for numerous weeks because of a hamstring injury.
“He tries everything to be with the team. He works really hard to come back and then first game when he came back, after two or three minutes we saw him making a sprint and now he is out for weeks again.
“That’s always very hard for a player in every part of the season, let alone in the part of the season that everybody is looking forward to.
“He will a miss large part of the end of the season but we expect him to be back in the end phase. He might [need surgery] but that is something we still have to assess.” – Arne Slot
Slot was later asked about Diogo Jota‘s fitness.
“We have missed our number nine that played in the first seven or eight games, but now he is back. He played 60 [minutes against Wolves] and with the decent amount of games we play now you don’t expect him to play 90, 90, 90 in the upcoming [three] matches [against Aston Villa, Manchester City and Newcastle], but he will be involved, hopefully, in all the three games and hopefully with a lot of minutes as well.” – Arne Slot
Curtis Jones is back in contention after he served his one-match suspension in Sunday’s win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
ASTON VILLA
Ezri Konsa (muscle), Matty Cash (muscle) and Leon Bailey (calf) face late fitness tests for Aston Villa.
“Bailey is close to being with us again. I don’t know tomorrow, he’s a doubt.
“Cash as well is close to being with us, Konsa as well is close to being with us.
“We trained this morning but, until tomorrow morning, I’m not going to decide exactly how much they are ready to play or not to be with us.” – Unai Emery
Boubacar Kamara (muscle) is out, however, having limped off in the first half against Ipswich Town on Saturday.
“Kamara was ready to play [against Ipswich] but had some problems in his back. But the injury is not coming from his back, it is in his hamstrings.” – Unai Emery
He joins Pau Torres (foot), Ross Barkley (calf) and Amadou Onana (unknown) on the sidelines.
MANCHESTER CITY
Jack Grealish, who was forced off against Real Madrid last week and missed Gameweek 25, has travelled to Spain.
So too have Erling Haaland, who came off in Saturday’s 4-0 win over Newcastle United with a knee issue, Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias.
“Yes, they travelled. We will see tomorrow but it’s good news they are here obviously.
“Jack was able to play a really good game in the FA Cup but after he doesn’t have the consistency to play three games a week, he was not able to do it. Hopefully now he is able for the last few months of the season he can get it.” – Pep Guardiola
