Gomez injury in England training adds to Liverpool problems

Liverpool are facing up to the prospect of a significant spell without Joe Gomez after it was confirmed he has suffered a knee injury.

England manager Gareth Southgate revealed Gomez had sustained the “upsetting” injury after a training session with the Three Lions on Wednesday. It means the champions are likely to be without the 23-year-old for the foreseeable future as they continue to navigate through their injury-hit campaign.

Gomez suffered the knee damage while preparing for England’s game with the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Thursday evening.

.@England have announced Joe Gomez has withdrawn from the squad for their forthcoming internationals after sustaining a knee injury in training.

The defender will undergo further diagnosis on the issue with our medical team.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) November 11, 2020

The centre-back will now report back to his club to be checked over by Liverpool’s medical department as they get set to move to their new AXA Training Centre at Kirkby next week.

Speaking in a press conference this evening, Southgate said: “I can’t tell you how serious it is because [Gomez] is yet to have scans.

“What was upsetting to see, he was in a fair bit of pain. There was nobody around him when the injury happened. I didn’t like that element of it.

“But we’ve just got to wait and see what the scans show. We’re all hopeful for him that it’s not what it might be.

“But it’s not a good situation. I don’t see him being involved in the games with us, that’s for sure.”

Asked whether it could be an ACL injury, Southgate added: “We can’t speculate the exact nature of the injury. It’s not possible until we’ve seen scans.

“My immediate thoughts are with him. He’s had some difficulties with injuries in the past.

“We’re hoping and praying it is not going to be a long-term one. We’ll just have to see.”