Defender Jeremie Frimpong will miss out of Liverpool’s games for the next six weeks including two crucial games – the first against Newcastle on Monday and another against Arsenal on the following Sunday. The Dutch-man who picked up the injury during Liverpool’s Champions League outing against Eintracht, has subsequently missed games against Brentford and Crystal Palace.
Manager, Arne Slot is expected to give an update on the summer signing in the pre-Aston Villa press conference on Friday although there are speculations that the 24-year-old will be out for a significant period of time.
Prior to Liverpool’s 3-2 loss to Brentford last weekend, Slot said, “Jeremie is not in a good place, what I mean by that is he is definitely not going to play today, tomorrow or next week”.
What this means means for the team
With crucial games around the corner, the Reds are expected to improve after their performance has been plummeting in recent weeks. Jeremie’s absence leaves a huge gap to fill defensively. This will be Jeremie’s second spell on the sidelines after missing wins over Newcastle and Arsenal earlier this season, and this translates into an unstable defense for the Reds.
Jeremie is expected to resume action by first week of December after missing Liverpool’s games against Aston Villa, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, PSV Eindhoven and West Ham.
Slot’s Dilemma
Slot who has earmarked the Dutchman as an option to replace Salah during the AFCON is now faced with a difficult task with his absence.
“Yes, we definitely thought about that. We brought in Jeremie Frimpong because we think he can play as a right full-back but I also think and feel he can play as a right-winger,” Slot said in August.
“I, we, did think about the fact that we’re going to miss Mo, I think as a maximum for six games – but that’s quite a lot in the Premier League, especially if you see how well he did last season.
“Signing Jeremie Frimpong was for multiple reasons but one of them was also that he could replace Mo if Mo is not there. There are other options for me to replace Mo with as well – but Jeremie is definitely one of them,” he said.
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