Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate is ruled out for two weeks with a hamstring injury as Chelsea’s Axel Disasi replaces the centre-back in the France squad.
Liverpool and France defender Ibrahima Konate has been ruled out for two weeks with a low-grade hamstring injury, the French Football Federation has announced.
The former RB Leipzig man joined the Reds’ growing injury list ahead of Sunday’s 3-0 Premier League win over Brentford, where Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk paired up at the heart of Jurgen Klopp‘s defence.
The absences of Konate and Joe Gomez did not hinder Liverpool en route to a comfortable win and clean sheet, but Klopp did not offer too much detail on their afflictions ahead of the game.
When asked by the media about Konate and Gomez’s absences, the German replied: “Yeah, both for injury reasons as well. We will see how serious how it is but they were not available today.”
Konate was included in the France squad for November’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Greece and Gibraltar, but the FFF has now revealed that the 24-year-old damaged his hamstring while warming up for Thursday’s Europa League loss to Toulouse, in which he was an unused substitute.
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The issue is not a severe one, but Konate is now expected to remain sidelined for the next two weeks, and Didier Deschamps has elected to call up Chelsea‘s Axel Disasi as the Liverpool man’s replacement.
“Victim of a small muscle injury to his left hamstring with Liverpool in the Europa League on Thursday in Toulouse during the warm-up, Ibrahima Konate was unable to play this weekend with Liverpool,” the FFF said in a statement.
“His injury requiring approximately two weeks of treatment, Didier Deschamps, after speaking with Dr. Franck Le Gall, the doctor of the French team, recorded Ibrahima Konate’s withdrawal.
“The national coach decided to call Axel Disasi as reinforcement. The Chelsea defender is expected tomorrow at noon at Clairefontaine, like all the players selected for this last gathering of the year.”
While Konate has avoided a serious problem, his participation in Liverpool’s crunch clash with Manchester City on November 25 is now in serious doubt, and the same can be said of Gomez amid his unspecified concern.
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Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic and Andrew Robertson are also in the care of the Liverpool medical team, but Ryan Gravenberch‘s knee injury should to clear up in time for the Dutchman to face the champions.
Curtis Jones is also expected to shake off his hamstring problem over the international break, while Alexis Mac Allister will return from a domestic suspension for the trip to the Etihad.
Despite their fresh injury concerns, Liverpool put Brentford to the sword thanks to a pair of Mohamed Salah goals and a second-half Diogo Jota strike, rising above Arsenal into second place in the table, one point behind Man City following the champions’ enthralling 4-4 draw versus Chelsea.
Meanwhile, France have already sealed a spot at Euro 2024 and only need one point from their final two games in Group B to progress as section winners, having triumphed in each of their first six matches.