Liverpool boss Arne Slot has admitted that he does not know whether Cody Gakpo will be fit for Wednesday's Premier League encounter with Aston Villa.
The Netherlands international was missing from the Reds' ranks for their 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday due to the knock that he suffered in the Merseyside derby draw with Everton in midweek.
In Gakpo's absence, Luis Diaz reverted to a right-wing position with Diogo Jota up front, and the Colombian had a direct hand in both Liverpool goals, notching the opener with his midriff before winning the penalty for Mohamed Salah to convert.
Gakpo would be expected to take his place in the Reds' first XI if fully fit, though, having enjoyed a fruitful Premier League season with eight goals and three assists from 24 top-flight appearances.
The league leaders now have a short turnaround time for Wednesday's trip to Villa, though, and Slot told reporters in his post-game press conference that he was still in the dark about Gakpo's availability for that fixture.
Slot delivers Gakpo injury update after Wolves win
© Imago
"He got a knock in the Everton game. A few of us got a knock but he got an injury from that," Slot said, before being asked directly whether the former PSV Eindhoven man would be fit to take on Villa.
"Under debate. It's fast, Wednesday already, so let's wait and see. It wasn't a soft knock then!" the Dutchman added, and Gakpo missing out against Villa would naturally plunge his participation against Manchester City next weekend into doubt.
After managing to avoid losing several players at once for a few weeks, Liverpool were without a total of four men on Sunday, as Tyler Morton and Joe Gomez also missed out alongside the suspended Curtis Jones.
The latter will be eligible for selection again at Villa Park, although Wolves were incensed that Ibrahima Konate was not made to take the walk of shame on Sunday, having clattered into Matheus Cunha while already on a caution.
Referee Simon Hooper elected to keep his yellow and red cards in his pocket before Slot took Konate off for Jarell Quansah at half time, although Wolves boss Vitor Pereira expressed his view that the Frenchman should have been dismissed.
Asked by Sky Sports if Konate should have been sent off, Pereira replied: "Yes of course. Second yellow card, red card, less one player, maybe it would be a different game. But I'm not a referee. I'm not there to decide."
Slot: 'Konate red card would have been soft'
© Imago
Slot confirmed that he took Konate off at the break to avoid going down to 10, but he felt that the centre-back's original caution was on the soft side, saying: "I saw him getting his first yellow, that was for me a soft yellow.
"If he would have got the second one for a shoulder push, that would again be a soft yellow, so then he would have been sent off by two soft yellows. I think the referee felt the same – that's why he didn't.
"But I've watched football so many times in my life and I know that a player and a referee is then under pressure, so every next foul will lead again to maybe a referee that thinks, 'Maybe now I should give him [a yellow].' I think back on three days ago.
"But for Ibou, it's so difficult to play 45 minutes of football against such a strong Wolves team. So, I had to take him off because you can't play football knowing in your head you can't make a foul and playing against such good players Wolves have."
Despite setting an unwanted club first on Sunday, Liverpool's nail-biting success took them seven points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table with just 13 games remaining.
Ben Knapton
