Liverpool dealt major injury blow after Merseyside derby with player 'set to miss significant chunk of season'
A Liverpool player is set to face a “lengthy lay-off”, according to reports.
Arne Slot will have to cope without a key defender in the coming weeks as the Reds played the first of five fixtures in just 15 days, coming away with a 2-2 draw against Everton at Goodison Park on Wednesday.
Slot, 46, could not stay calm when he approached referee Michael Oliver shortly after the full-time whistle.
The Liverpool boss and his assistant, Sipke Hulshoff, were both given their marching orders after a heated exchange with the match officials.
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Lip-reading expert Jeremy Freeman exclusively told SPORTbible what Slot supposedly said.
"That’s not a push? It’s a f**king disgrace... if you go and watch that again," Slot reportedly shouted at an assistant referee.
He then said: "Well done,” to the other linesman.
Just before shaking hands with Oliver, he sarcastically told the referee: "Great game."
After the red card, the Liverpool boss added: "Sure, you give me a red for that? I will check it out for later... me and you, yeah? Sure, give me a red card... we'll talk after?"
Following the match, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk expressed his disappointment at the result.
"I think the feeling right now is obviously disappointment; that’s pretty obvious, and it will be for today and tonight,” Van Dijk told TNT Sports.
“But from tomorrow, we focus on Wolves, and we try to get the three points then and so on and so on.
"We all know that we have a lot of games up until the international break, so there is no point to dwell too much on this result. We wanted to win here, we could have won here, maybe we should have won here. But it is what it is - we take it and move on."
Now, the Premier League leaders have been dealt a further blow, as Van Dijk’s fellow defender Joe Gomez is set for a “lengthy lay-off”, according to The Times.
Gomez’s campaign has been overshadowed by a persistent leg injury, which previously saw him miss ten matches in a row before he returned to the side in last weekend’s 1-0 defeat in the FA Cup fourth round against Plymouth Argyle.
However, he lasted just ten minutes before being withdrawn. Slot confirmed that the injury involved the same leg as previously.
The defender will now undergo further tests to establish the severity of the injury. He is "set to miss a significant chunk of the season".
Topics: Liverpool, Premier League, Everton, Joe Gomez, Injury, Virgil Van Dijk, Arne Slot, Champions League
Luke Davies