Liverpool star's injury confirms Arne Slot conundrum
Liverpool have a fresh injury concern which will cause Arne Slot an almighty headache.
In the Reds' winning effort against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, ending the club's four-losses-in-a-row slump, a player went down within just 20 minutes of kick-off. Fortunately, he could be substituted for a like-for-like replacement, but it was a notable concern.
With young centre-back Giovanni Leoni already confirmed to be out for the season after tearing his ACL on debut, every subsequent injury is greeted with caution before we know how severe it may be.
But the context behind this latest issue immediately presents an issue for Liverpool to deal with.
Frimpong's THIRD injury this season
The player in question was Slot's chosen right-back for the evening, Jeremie Frimpong, who was making his eight appearance of the season - just his fourth start. So far this season, he's had to deal with a few different fitness concerns, alongside having to battle with Conor Bradley for minutes.
While it's unconfirmed, his substitution in the first half against Frankfurt appears to have been related to a hamstring concern, which - if true - would be the THIRD hamstring injury he's had this season.
Prior to this season, he'd only injured his hamstring once in his career, which perhaps suggests that he's struggling to fully adapt physically to the intensity that Liverpool are asking him to play at. After all, whenever he's deployed as a 'full-back' he's required to play high up the pitch and track back.
Of course, we'll have to wait until he's diagnosed to get a full picture on his latest problem. It might be that Slot decided to be cautious with him, rather than Frimpong having actually torn any muscles.
But one thing is certain, Liverpool now have a serious headache to address moving forward.
Initially, while Frimpong and Bradley were injured, Dominik Szoboszlai was deployed as the team's right back and he succeeded to a degree, despite having no experience of playing there before.
However, it's since been proven without doubt that the Hungarian is better suited to a midfield role, and so you're actively hurting the team if he needs to be taken away from his best position. For the moment, while Frimpong is sidelined, Bradley will come in, allowing Szosboszlai to stay where he is.
But the profiles of Frimpong and Bradley are completely different, and with the Dutchman absent, we are going to be forced to make Szoboszlai the back-up when the Northern Irishman has to be rested.
In the long-term, that's a problem. Of course, things could all blow over and in time, we might see Frimpong's issues simmer down. Until then, we're back in exactly the same position as last month.
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