Liverpool have already watched as Alexander Isak was sent home from the Swedish national team with a minor thigh issue after the first two international matches. With an extended international break and three more games to come, it’s hardly an ideal start for those watching from a primarily Liverpool point of view.
Thankfully for the Reds, the reports surrounding Isak suggest the issue is minor and his return precautionary as much as anything. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the only issue a Liverpool forward
had with an injury scare, with Cody Gakpo also picked up a knock, suffering an ankle injury in the 17th minute against Serbia over the weekend.
“It’s his ankle, that’s all I know for now,” said Netherlands boss Xavi following his side’s 2-1 victory when asked about Gakpo, who is expected to undergo scans on his ankle to confirm the seriousness of the injury later today. “I don’t think it’s so bad but tomorrow we will know for sure—but hopefully it’s not too big a problem.”
If it’s only a minor strain, Gakpo might miss up to a week of action, potentially playing again in the Netherlands’ final game of the break against Serbia again next Sunday. If anything, that would be the best case result from a Liverpool point of view given if there’s tear damage a week or less turns into multiple weeks out.
Gakpo has been Liverpool’s most in-form forward early in the season, with the attacker seemingly reinvigorated by the arrival of new head coach Andoni Iraola and a re-focusing on attacking verticality and advancing the ball up the pitch more quickly than was the case last season under Arne Slot when Gakpo struggled.
He will be needed when our current extra long international break nightmare is over and Liverpool face off against sportswashing front for a human rights abusing petrostate (and now officially guilty of extreme financial doping going back more than a decade) Manchester City on Sunday, October 11th.
