Liverpool have been dealt a huge blow after confirming that Joe Gomez has withdrawn from international duty after suffering a knee injury while away with England.
Gomez has been a regular under Jurgen Klopp this season having featured 12 times across all competition so far and he was rewarded for his fine form with a call-up to the England squad for their triple-header during the international break.
However, concerns grew over the centre-back after Sky Sports News were one of several media outlets to report on Wednesday afternoon that Gomez had suffered a serious injury while training with his country this morning.
The club have now confirmed on Liverpoolfc.com that Gomez has withdrawn from the England squad and will miss their upcoming games against Republic of Ireland, Belgium and Iceland.
The defender will undergo further tests to determine the full extent of the injury but The Sun claim Liverpool fear he’s suffered a similar knee ligament injury to the one that ended Virgil van Dijk’s season.
It’s the third time Gomez has suffered a serious injury while away on England duty having damaged knee ligaments with the U21’s in 2015 before picking up an ankle problem which required surgery in 2018.
The news will come as a huge concern to Klopp as the Reds boss has already lost van Dijk to a serious knee ligament injury and the Dutch international is unlikely to play again before the end of the season.
Fabinho – who had been filling-in for van Dijk in the middle of defence – has also been on the sidelines with a thigh injury while Thiago Alcantara has missed the last six matches with a knee injury.
To compound matters for Liverpool, Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out for around a month with a calf injury that forced him off during the 1-1 draw with Manchester City last weekend.
We’ll have to wait for a formal diagnosis on Gomez but Liverpool will be hoping it’s not as bad as first feared as they’re already lacking options in central defence so Klopp may be forced to call upon the likes of Nat Philips and Rhys Williams over the coming games.
Joel Matip has recently returned from injury and Fabinho shouldn’t be out for too much longer but Klopp will be praying he doesn’t suffer any more injury problems during the international break as Liverpool have a hectic period coming up.
The Reds play 11 games in all competitions between November 21st and the New Year so Klopp will hope he can get through that run unscathed before looking to strengthen his squad with an additional centre-back in the January window.
