Liverpool have been dealt a fresh injury blow to their frontline ahead of their Champions League clash with PSG on Wednesday.
The Reds are on track for a hugely-successful season under Arne Slot, looking destined to win the Premier League in his first campaign since replacing Jurgen Klopp as boss in the summer.
They will also take on Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final next week, while they have been drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16 of the Champions League, with the first leg to be played in Paris on Wednesday.
Reds boss Arne Slot, though, may have to play the game without one of his star forwards after the wide man was dealt an injury blow that could rule him out of the match.
Cody Gakpo has recently returned to fitness after missing two matches – against Wolves and Aston Villa – last month, coming off the bench in the wins over Manchester City and Newcastle.
But Slot has revealed it will be a late call on whether he can feature against the French champions, potentially leaving the Dutchman a man light when it comes to his forward options.
Liverpool have been dealt an injury blow with one of their star forwards as risk of missing their clash with PSG
Reds boss Arne Slot may have to navigate the game without one of his better players from this season so far
Cody Gakpo has recently returned from injury but suffered a recent setback in training
‘He [Gakpo] was close to being ready to play again but unfortunately he had to block a shot and felt pain again,’ Slot said ahead of the match. ‘We have taken him to judge tomorrow [Wednesday] if he can be part of the squad. It will be a close call.’
Gakpo has been one of the stars of Slot’s first season with Liverpool, becoming first-choice on the left side of attack.
He has netted 16 times in 38 games so far – also picking up five assists – as he has gone from strength to strength under his new boss, but may miss the clash with Luis Enrique’s side.
The 25-year-old has generally been one of the first names on the team sheet, with Mohamed Salah starring on the opposite flank and one of Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez playing centrally.
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Slot, meanwhile, was on Tuesday accused of telling referee Michael Oliver ‘I will f***ing blame you if we don’t win the league’ during an X-rated tirade after the draw at Everton last month. The manager disputed he used this foul language but accepted the charge.
But the Reds boss is keen to put the incident behind him and said on Tuesday: ‘The moment it happened, I was quite emotional for everything that happened in the last seven or eight minutes and maybe the whole game.
‘I chose to go on pitch instead of staying calm, staying inside and then talking to Michael. Now I don’t have the same emotions anymore so I think I should set a better example than I set back then and not go into the situation again.
‘It’s clear what I’ve written and what Michael has written (in the report). Michael has been in the news quite a lot recently and I don’t think it helps if I add something to that now I have my emotions under control.’
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