Arne Slot says it will be another “close call” as to whether Cody Gakpo plays against Southampton in what he has described as the first of three “cup finals” to come for Liverpool over the next week.
The Dutch forward has been a regular starter in attack this season but missed Wednesday night’s late smash and-grab win away at Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 with the recurrence of a small ankle injury.
Gakpo had originally been forced off with the knock in last month’s chaotic Merseyside derby draw against Everton and sat out the Premier League meetings with Wolves and Aston Villa before returning with cameos off the bench in the wins over Manchester City and Newcastle.
However, he did not train in the build-up to the PSG game and was absent from the matchday squad at the Parc des Princes, though could be seen hoisting aloft Liverpool hero Alisson Becker after the full-time whistle, providing optimism that the injury was not serious.
Asked for a new update on Gakpo ahead of Saturday’s visit of bottom club Southampton to Anfield, Slot said: “He didn’t train yesterday yet, so let’s see if he can train with us today [Friday].
“Again, [a] close call it will probably be. It’s not a long-term injury but he still had a bit of pain yesterday so he was not able to train. Let’s see where he is today, so I can’t give you the answer yet.”
Liverpool definitely remain without injured defenders Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley along with young midfielder Tyler Morton, while winger Ben Doak has returned to the club to rehab after surgery on a thigh issue sustained while on loan at Middlesbrough.
With the decisive return leg against PSG to come at Anfield on Tuesday before the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle at Wembley next weekend, it is expected that Slot will make changes to his team against struggling Southampton with a 13-point buffer over nearest title rivals Arsenal - who have a game in hand - at the Premier League summit and only 10 matches left to play in the top-flight this term.
However, when asked about possible rotation against the Saints, who are 13 points adrift of safety, he said: “For me the one against Southampton is by far the most important, not only because it's the first one we play but it is a very important one for us.
"If I make the choice to play other players that is because I think that's the biggest chance to win the game tomorrow and not because I want to rest them for the game against PSG.”
He added on selection: “If there was three, four, five days in between the last game and this one I would have probably started the same 11 again, even if there was only two days in between for the next one.
"Since there is only two days in between and we had to fight really hard and it's not the first game after being out for three or four weeks, it’s probably the 50th game in three months - I don't know how many - so you take that into account but you take the quality from the team you face, you take the form of the players, how fit they are, which players fit best together."
