Gomez absent for Liverpool as more injuries revealed after FPL deadline

Fantasy Premier League managers find themselves at the mercy of their real-life counterparts once again in Blank Gameweek 28.

That’s because Jurgen Klopp becomes the latest top-flight boss to reveal his injury news after the Gameweek deadline, rather than in his midweek press conference.

Thankfully, on this occasion, the players affected are not widely-owned Fantasy assets, although many are still reeling from surprise absences from starting line-ups for Jamie Vardy (£9.8m) and Danny Ings (£7.2m).

Joe Gomez (£5.3m) misses out for Liverpool, with the club’s official Twitter account explaining it as a “precaution due to a minor fitness concern”.

That sees Dejan Lovren (£5.3m) slot in alongside Virgil van Dijk (£6.6m) at centre-back while Naby Keïta (£5.8m), not mentioned in this week’s press conference, has a “sore hip”.

While the precedent increasingly being set by Premier League managers to omit injury updates from their pre-deadline press conferences, at least the big Liverpool assets have come through this one unscathed.

Sadio Mané (£12.4m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) flank Roberto Firmino (£9.7m) in the front-three while Andrew Robertson (£7.0m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.7m) hold onto their full-back berths.

Watford line-up in 4-2-3-1 formation, with Ismaïla Sarr (£6.2m) back in the side following a muscle injury.

Watford XI: Foster; Masina, Cathcart, Kabasele, Femenía; Hughes, Capoue; Deulofeu, Doucouré, Sarr; Deeney.

Liverpool XI: Alisson; Robertson, van Dijk, Lovren, Alexander-Arnold; Fabinho, Wijnaldum, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Mané, Firmino, Salah.