Liverpool got their 2025/26 Premier League campaign off to a winning start on Friday evening as they battled to a hard-fought victory over Bournemouth at Anfield. The Reds looked as if they would be cruising to victory when they led 2-0 thanks to goals from Hugo Ekitike and Cody Gakpo.
Bournemouth fought back and a brace from Antoine Semenyo, who was subjected to alleged racial abuse earlier in the match, meant the scores were level with 15 minutes of the match remaining.
Liverpool were not to be denied, though, and managed to kickstart their title defence with a 4-2 win thanks to late goals from Federico Chiesa – his first in the Premier League since joining the club last summer – and Mohamed Salah.
Jeremie Frimpong Goes Off injured vs Bournemouth
Eyebrows were raised when Arne Slot made the decision to substitute off new signing Jeremie Frimpong just before the hour-mark and replace him with Wataru Endo. Speaking after the match, Slot revealed that the former Leverkusen defender had a hamstring issue. Explaining the substitution on Sky Sports, Slot said, per This Is Anfield:
“That wasn’t out of luxury. That was because Jeremie Frimpong felt his hamstring at half-time and made a lot of sprints.
“He was doing quite well, but the other right full-back Conor Bradley is already out with an injury, so we don’t want to take the risk of losing another full-back.
“Then you could argue ‘why don’t you play Joe Gomez there?’, but he only had two sessions in pre-season so he wasn’t able to play half an hour, so we started with Wata.”
An injury expert has now given their take on how long Frimpong could be out for following the match. X user @physioscout thinks that, based on Slot’s comments, Frimpong will be out for less than a week but could miss up to four weeks if it turns out to be more serious than first feared.
They wrote: “Jeremie Frimpong came off in the 60th minute with a hamstring complaint. Slot added he ‘felt his hamstring a bit’.
“Typically, this results in one of two outcomes: hamstring tightness or a minor hamstring strain, with tightness being the more likely scenario. Potential Recovery Time: If hamstring tightness:
Liverpool will be hoping Frimpong will recover in time for their next match, which takes place against Newcastle United at St James’ Park on Monday August 25.