Ibrahima Konate drops injury update after Arne Slot’s comments before Liverpool vs Man Utd

Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate was forced off during the Reds’ defeat to Chelsea before the international break, and he was subsequently released from France duty due to a thigh injury

Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate has delivered an encouraging injury update amid concerns over his availability for Sunday’s clash with Manchester United. The French defender was brought off during the Chelsea encounter before the international break and was subsequently withdrawn from duty with a thigh problem.

The Reds face their bitter rivals on Sunday desperate to bounce back from consecutive Premier League defeats, as they trail leaders Arsenal by just one point in second place. Konate has been a mainstay for the title challengers but his fitness concerns have left Liverpool’s defensive resources stretched.

Giovanni Leoni remains sidelined with a serious knee problem following surgery after picking up the injury during the Carabao Cup clash with Southampton.

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Consequently, central defensive choices are thin on the ground at Anfield. On Friday night, Konate shared a collection of images on his Instagram account showing himself arriving at the training ground, completing his warm-up routine and joining in the post-session festivities.

Arne Slot revealed he expected Konate to train, and the defender has now appeared to confirm his participation ahead of Sunday’s huge clash. It remains to be seen if he’ll play any part, but the fact he’s trained will come as a huge boost to Slot.

Ahead of Sunday’s Anfield showdown with Ruben Amorim’s outfit, the Liverpool boss confirmed Ryan Gravenberch was available despite being withdrawn from Netherlands duty during the international window, but was less certain on Konate.

“We are in a good place with the Dutch national team if Ronald Koeman can make a decision either to play Tijjani Reijnders or Ryan Gravenberch, so he played them both 45 minutes.

“Ibou has come back to us, started the sessions again and is expected to train with us today.”

The former RB Leipzig centre-back has had injury problems throughout his Liverpool career. Liverpool missed out on signing Marc Guehi on deadline day and offloaded Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen as part of their summer sale and are subseqeuntly just an injury away from an injury crisis.

Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez would be the only options at the back following the injury to Italian talent Leoni.

Andy Robertson and Gravenberch are, however, also considered as possible makeshift options at the back should their injury crisis deepen.

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