Liverpool FC finished the Champions League group stage with a 6-0 win, but the evening did not go as planned. Will there be another new signing?
In the 5-1 win in Frankfurt in mid-October, Jeremie Frimpong was unable to play for even 20 minutes before he had to leave the pitch injured. The former Leverkusen player fared even worse on Wednesday evening against Qarabag Agdam: Liverpool coach Arne Slot had to take his right-back off the pitch again in the fourth minute.
“It’s a muscle injury, but I don’t know how long he’ll be out,” Slot reported after the otherwise effortless 6-0 home win at the end of the Champions League group stage, which his Reds finished in third place. For the time being, Frimpong extends Liverpool’s injury list, which is particularly long in defense. So long that midfielder Wataru Endo, who had already had to help out as a center back at the weekend, was suddenly needed at right back for almost 90 minutes this time.
“You give him a task and he does it with total commitment,” Slot praised his all-rounder afterwards. “He played really well today. What he lacks a little when you play him there is that he doesn’t run behind as often or have as much one-on-one quality as perhaps Jeremie Frimpong. But what he does, he does so neatly, with concentration and focus. The good thing, of course, was that we were only attacking today.”
Last-minute transfer? Slot only wants “smart” decisions
Although Joe Gomez (knee problems) or Curtis Jones (infection) could return on Saturday against Newcastle, Endo’s services show how risky it would be to go into the decisive phase of the season without further new signings. Slot emphasized that only “smart” decisions that make sense in the long term will be made. He added: “We are now entering a phase with only one game per week, which usually means fewer injuries.”
Goal scorers Florian Wirtz (2-0, 21′) and Hugo Ekitiké (4-0, 57′) apparently came through the game against Qarabag unscathed.
“A muscle injury is usually related to overexertion,” Slot explained about Frimpong. “That’s why I also substituted Hugo and Florian.” The two ex-Bundesliga pros, who love to play, were taken off in the 67th minute for their own protection.
The two ex-Bundesliga pros, who love to play, were taken off in the 67th minute for their own protection.
