Kostas Tsimikas Facing Short Spell On Sidelines For Liverpool After Injuring Ankle
Arne Slot has a number of difficult selection decisions to make ahead of Liverpool's Champions League tie with Real Madrid on Wednesday night. The Dutchman could welcome a number of players back from injury.
The Reds continued their impressive start to the season after the November international break with a 3-2 victory away at Southampton over the weekend to open up an eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League table following Manchester City's 4-0 defeat to Tottenham.
Slot has won 16 of his 18 matches in charge of Liverpool in all competitions and will be aiming to secure early qualification to the last 16 of the Champions League when they take on the reigning European champions.
Kostas Tsimikas was absent at St. Mary’s with a knock, while Harvey Elliott was named in the matchday squad for the first time after being sidelined since September with a fractured foot.
According to The Times' Paul Joyce, Tsimikas is facing a short spell on the sidelines for Liverpool after injuring his ankle in training. It is unclear how long the left-back will be out of action, however, he is expected to miss the Real Madrid clash and Sunday's league game against Man City at Anfield.
This means that Andy Robertson could start three games in eight days, having already featured for 180-plus minutes for Scotland during the international break. Tsimikas joins Liverpool’s injury list which already includes the likes of Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota, Federico Chiesa, and Trent Alexander-Arnold
Arne Slot is expected to provide an update on the fitness of these injured players during his pre-Real Madrid press conference at 3.30pm on Tuesday.
Tsimikas has made 11 appearances and provided one assist in all competitions for Liverpool this season as the Reds have also reached the Carabao Cup quarterfinals where they will take on Southampton next month for a place in the semifinals.
Alisson Becker, who was involved in individual training last week will miss the Madrid match. Slot said on November 22: "We are careful with everyone, especially when it comes to muscle injuries. But he is back in training with the goalkeeper coach.
"He is not training with the team yet, but that is expected to be done soon, and then let's wait and see where he is in terms of match fitness. But he is getting better and better, but not ready to play [on] Sunday."
Trent Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile is yet to return to team training after going off during the first half of the Anfield victory over Aston Villa on November 9 due to injury.
LFC Transfer Room Football Correspondent. Covered the fortunes of Liverpool for the past three years. Follow Joseph on X (formerly Twitter) @joseph_agbobli