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Andoni Iraola confirms double Liverpool blow after Brentford win
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- Andoni Iraola confirms double Liverpool blow after Brentford win
Andoni Iraola confirms double Liverpool blow after Brentford win
Liverpool Injury Update as Andoni Iraola Confirms Setback for Jeremie Frimpong and Dominik Szoboszlai
Liverpool left Brentford with three points and a 2-1 victory, but the mood around Andoni Iraola was tempered by the kind of injury news that can sour a good afternoon. In the hard light that follows a narrow win, the head coach admitted the Reds now face a difficult spell without Jeremie Frimpong and Dominik Szoboszlai.
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Szoboszlai's afternoon ended after 32 minutes at the Gtech Community Stadium, a worrying development given he had already missed Liverpool's previous two matches with a fitness problem. Iraola made it clear that this was no fresh issue, but a recurrence of the same concern, the sort of setback that suggests a player was asked to go again before the body was fully ready.
Frimpong's situation was different, but little less troubling. Introduced at half-time to exploit Liverpool's advantage against 10 men, he lasted only a matter of minutes before being forced off, with Victor Munoz switching to right-back. It was one of those moments that tells its own story, a plan undone before it had time to breathe.
Photo: IMAGO
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Iraola explains Liverpool injury concern
The Liverpool head coach said: "I think we have a very delicate situation. We were coming from playing Champions League away two days ago, we arrived [home] late at night and probably with not a proper recovery.
"You are in doubt between the players that have already started two games and are very tired, or the players that are recovering from injuries but you're probably not 100 per cent certain."They were different cases. Dom felt the same injury, it's not a new injury and was probably not healed enough, so we will need more time with him. Jeremie's was new, I think he finished cramping the other day [against LASK]."I put him on because playing against 10, going forward I thought he could give us more than Ronald [Araujo]. After, I value a lot and he was very good, Victor playing as a right-back."But it will mean we will lose Dom and Jeremie for some time, yes."
Brentford win comes at a cost
There was honesty in that assessment and a sense of calculation too. Iraola is juggling fatigue, European travel and players on the edge of fitness, all before the season has settled into rhythm. Liverpool won the game, but there was a price attached.
The immediate concern is depth. Szoboszlai has become an important presence in midfield and Frimpong offers thrust and unpredictability from wide areas. Their absence leaves Iraola with decisions to make and little room for sentiment. At this stage of a campaign, momentum matters, but so does survival. Liverpool have kept moving, yet the road ahead already looks more demanding.
