Ibrahima Konate could be headed to hospital for scans on his injury after being forced off at half-time in Liverpool’s come-from-behind victory over Brighton on Saturday. The centre-back was taken off in agony after a nasty fall on his left arm.
The Reds were 1-0 down at the time to Ferdi Kadioglu’s strike with Konate going off holding his shoulder in a makeshift sling fashioned from his shirt while flanked by the Liverpool physio.
Joe Gomez replaced the Frenchman and Liverpool went on to win 2-1 thanks to Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah’s goals. The three points puts Slot’s side back on top of the Premier League table.
But there will be concern about Konate, who has been excellent alongside Virgil van Dijk this season. The Merseyside outfit have the best defensive record in the league.
And Slot said in his post-match press conference that Konate may need assessing at hospital after the match. He said: “We don’t know yet. He had a lot of pain, but he hasn’t been to the hospital yet – and maybe it is not even necessary to go to the hospital, I don’t know.
“It is always difficult to judge an injury in the first hour or first 10 minutes after it happens. Let’s hope he can be with us as soon as possible because he had a big impact on our season until now.
“But Joe deserved the trust I gave him today because he played outstanding in the second half.”
Slot continued: “It was not only the first half that was a big disappointment, there was also the disappointment that [Konate] had to go off because he has been really good for us the whole season.
“The good thing is in that position I have two very good options as well with Jarell Quansah and Joe Gomez.
“I took Jarell off five minutes before the end in Brighton because for 20 minutes he was already stretching and I could feel and see that he was tired, which is not so strange because he hasn’t played that much.
“Then, with 45 minutes to go, I felt I had to bring someone in that is fitter than Jarell was during the week.”
Konate looks certain to miss the midweek visit of Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League and likely next Saturday night’s showdown with Aston Villa at Anfield.
After that, the international break could help the French defender’s cause. Slot is also without Alisson, Harvey Elliott, Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa until at least the end of the month.
Konate’s centre-half partner Van Dijk said when asked about the importance of beating Brighton: “I think over the last couple of years we’ve never had an easy game against them. It’s always tough and you could see it in the first half.
“We didn’t press well and were sloppy in possession. It was a well-deserved 1-0 at the break [but] we had completely different energy after the break and got what we deserved I think.
“It’s too early to even make it important. We want to be on top of the league but we want to be there after the last match in May.
“The results have been good so far this season but there is a long way to go. It is still a work in progress. We stay humble and keep fighting.”
