Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola has indicated when Jeremy Jacquet is likely to be available for selection, with the Frenchman having missed the 4-2 win over Sunderland in Nashville.
Shortly before kick-off, it emerged that the 21-year-old had suffered a minor issue which ruled him out of the game on Saturday evening, and the Reds’ centre-back woes were compounded by the sight of Joe Gomez going off injured in the opening minutes of the match.
With Virgil van Dijk not in the travelling party and Giovanni Leoni still recovering from his ACL rupture, it meant that LFC lined out with a very youthful central defensive duo of Mor Talla Ndiaye and Ifeanyi Ndukwe for the majority of the game.
Speaking to LFCTV after full-time, Iraola reflected with dismay on the injury to Gomez, but hinted that it shouldn’t be much longer before Jacquet is cleared to play.
The Reds’ head coach said (via Liverpool Echo): “Probably the worst news has been straight away the injury of Joe. We were happy because we were going through training without losing any players, and unluckily for us we’ve lost Joe straight away.
“With Jeremy, we decided to take it easy with him. He’s had a lot of months without playing. He’s been training very well, but we’re going to take it easy with him. He will play probably in the last game of this US tour. He will have time to have minutes, but we were kind of happy, but we’ve lost one now.”
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From Iraola’s update, we can deduce that Jacquet will miss the midweek clash against Wrexham but will hopefully be passed fit to face Leeds on Sunday week.
The head coach didn’t offer any indication as to the severity of the issue which forced Gomez off early against Sunderland, although the quick turnaround time between the pre-season games might push the boss towards not wanting to take any unnecessary risks with the 29-year-old.
The academy partnership of Ndiaye and Ndukwe could potentially be on display again on Wednesday night, and while that might be fine for one pre-season match, it lays bare the quandary that Liverpool could face in the thick of the campaign if they don’t add reinforcements in the transfer window.
Iraola has already been quite vocal about needing more depth in his squad, and those pleas may well become even louder after the body blows to Jacquet and Gomez over the past 24 hours.
We do not need another season of scant centre-back depth and potentially having to deploy midfielders in the backline to fill gaps which should be covered off while the transfer window remains open.
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