Liverpool defensive crisis deepens as Joe Gomez suffers knee injury in England training

ByPete Hall

Updated 11/11/2020 at 19:42 GMT

With Virgil van Dijk out for the foreseeable future, Trent Alexander-Arnold set for a spell on the sidelines and Fabinho also injured, Liverpool's defensive crisis could be about to get even worse after an injury to Joe Gomez during England training on Tuesday with Jurgen Klopp sure to be less than happy about the news.

Liverpool's defensive crisis could be about to get even worse as Joe Gomez has suffered a knee injury while on England duty and will undergo further tests.

Virgil van Dijk is likely to miss the majority of the rest of the season, Fabinho is out injured, with Trent Alexander-Arnold crowding the treatment room yet further after he picked up an injury against Manchester City at the weekend.

But Jurgen Klopp, who was far from enthusiastic about the latest round of international matches before these fresh reports, could be about to get more incredulous, with news of Gomez's injury emerging.

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"I can't tell you how serious it is as he's yet to have scans," said England manager Gareth Southgate at a press conference on Wednesday.

What was upsetting was to see he was in a fair bit of pain. We're hopeful for him that it's not what it might be but it's not a good situation.

Liverpool released a statement which said: "The defender will undergo further diagnosis on the issue with Liverpool's medical team."

England face Republic of Ireland in an international friendly on Thursday before Nations League group matches against Belgium (15th) and Iceland (18th).

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SOUTHGATE SLAMS SCHEDULE

Southgate took the opportunity to criticise the packed schedule that has put huge demands on the players, due in no small part to the Covid-19 pandemic that meant the domestic seasons started later than normal.

The 23-year-old Gomez has played 15 games for club and country in little over two months with the Premier League, Champions League and internationals coming thick and fast.

"There are lots of discussions about extra subs. But the bigger picture here is, everybody in the game needs to work together," Southgate said.

"With a winter World Cup (in 2022) there was an opportunity this year to think differently. The pandemic has thrown up all sorts of difficulties for people. But everybody has tried to cram the programme into a smaller period.

"We are going to see injuries. It's a desperately sad situation. When you see the impact on an individual, it hits home even more.

These discussions should have happened in the summer. We could have adjusted the calendar in its entirety and all worked together. But people haven't done that.

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