2 days ago
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Liverpool fans could be forgiven for being a little concerned when two key players were withdrawn during Sunday's victory over Arsenal at Anfield.
Ibrahima Konate and Florian Wirtz were in discomfort as they left the field, but head coach Arne Slot moved to ease fears over the pair as he said that both players were merely suffering with cramp.
That is welcome news after another new signing, Jeremie Frimpong, sustained a hamstring injury during Liverpool's season opener against Bournemouth, which kept him out of the subsequent games against Newcastle and Arsenal.
Speaking after the win over Arsenal, Slot said of Konate's withdrawal: “He thinks it is cramp and I have no reason to doubt him, although sometimes players talk about cramp and then we make a scan and it is more than that.
“Jeremie Frimpong wasn’t too happy, like some pundits and journalists, when I took him off against Bournemouth because he thought he only had cramp, or only felt a little bit, and he is already out for two or three weeks now. Let’s wait and see."
On Wirtz's withdrawal, Slot said: “It wasn’t an injury, it was a welcome to the Premier League!
“After 85 minutes, I don’t think he knew he could have cramp in so many different places and that’s what happened. That is welcome to the Premier League, that is welcome to playing in this intensity against an Arsenal that can play really intense as well.
“If you bring in - as we do - very, very good players, so, so, so talented but from different leagues and young - Florian is 22 and 23 Hugo [Ekitike].
"I think it is normal if you are not 27 or 28 you maybe need to make a step towards the Premier League and that’s what these two are doing.”
Konate and Wirtz both reported for international duty with France and Germany respectively at the start of this week, confirming Slot's original prognoses.
Both players have also trained with their national teams ahead of World Cup qualifiers for their countries over the next few days.
Conor Bradley was the only other injury concern around the Arsenal game, and he was an unused substitute against the Gunners, but he has also linked up with his international teammates ahead of Northern Ireland's upcoming games against Luxembourg and Wirtz's Germany.
That makes Frimpong the only fitness concern for Liverpool at this moment in time. It remains to be seen whether he will be available when the Reds' season resumes against Burnley in just under two weeks' time.
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