View ImageArne Slot has confirmed that Florian Wirtz is playing through the pain barrier for Liverpool (Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Arne Slot has revealed Liverpool are carefully managing Florian Wirtz over fears of a hamstring injury for the £116m midfielder.
Germany international Wirtz, who briefly became the club’s record signing when he joined from Bayer Leverkusen in June, played 66 minutes of the goalless draw with Leeds United on New Year’s Day before being withdrawn for Cody Gakpo.
Wirtz, who enjoyed an excellent December, was below his level of the last few weeks as the champions toiled against Daniel Farke’s side, producing just one shot on target in the second period, which came via Dominik Szoboszlai’s long-range effort.
And after admitting Wirtz spoke of tiredness after the 2-1 win over Wolves on December 27, Slot confirmed he and his staff are now looking to avoid a potential injury setback for their No.7.
“It’s a lot to ask for the players who were fit,” Slot told LFCTV after the 0-0 draw with Leeds. “As you could see today, four players with hardly any playing minutes in the Premier League were on the bench.
“Florian only trained once this week because two days after the game, he felt his hamstring still a bit.
“You try to be as careful as you can without ruining your chances of winning the game as much as you can with the schedule coming up because missing out on another one would be an even bigger problem if that’s going to take five, six or seven weeks or longer.
“The good thing was Cody Gakpo was back after an injury so I could still make a few substitutions still and these players have to do it in the upcoming weeks or months because apart from Joe Gomez, I don’t see a player coming back soon.”
Liverpool return to action when they are entertained by Fulham on Sunday afternoon.