Jeremie Frimpong was forced off with an apparent hamstring injury (Image: TNT SPORTS)
Liverpool defender Jeremie Frimpong suffered another injury blow inside the opening minutes of their Champions League meeting with Qarabag. The summer signing has endured a stuttering start to his Anfield career as a result of injury problems throughout the campaign. Since joining the Reds, he has been forced to miss 10 league games due to two separate hamstring injuries.
Frimpong returned to action in the middle of December and it seemed as though he had finally turned a corner ahead of Wednesday’s game against Qarabag. However, after just two minutes of play, he pulled up with what appeared to be another hamstring problem. The right-back tried to hobble on but it quickly became apparent that he wouldn’t be able to continue.
He was visibly gutted as he limped around the perimeter of the pitch and straight down the tunnel, with Arne Slot throwing on Wataru Endo to replace him.
It means Liverpool could be without three of their right-backs going forward, given that Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley were already injured heading into Wednesday’s fixture.
Only time will tell whether Frimpong is ruled out for an extended period, with the Dutchman likely to undergo scans to determine the full extent of the problem.
It comes just days after he opened up on his recent injury struggles, insisting that he just wanted to knuckle down and get a run of games under his belt.
“I’ve been injured for a long time and I just want to play football,” said Frimpong in an interview with the Liverpool Echo following the goalless draw with Leeds United earlier this month.
“You could say that I miss playing football, so of course I’m happy to be back on the pitch, but I want to win as well, so today was really frustrating.
“It was really tough being injured, you know, because, touch wood, I’m not really the kind of guy that gets injured. So, it’s really difficult for me to deal with, but I’ve got my family around me, so that was good.
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Frimpong looked distraught as he limped around the edge of the Anfield pitch (Image: Getty)
“I think obviously the injury really played a big part of it because I was injured the first one month and then came back and it was two months out. I could say it’s been an unlucky start for me but like now I’m healthier. I feel good.”
Liverpool have been ravaged by injuries this season and they went into the match against Qarabag with Virgil van Dijk as their only fit centre-back. Ryan Gravenberch was forced to deputise alongside the Reds skipper in defence.
Speaking in his press conference ahead of the game, Slot said: “For sure at centre-back tomorrow there will be someone who isn’t a centre-back, apart from Virgil. It’ll be a midfielder or somewhere else.
“Virgil’s ability to play 90 [minutes] should not be taken for granted. I wasn’t able to do what the Qarabag manager did by changing 11 players ahead of this game.
“It’s not a worry that I have a small squad but it’s a difficulty. I’d have preferred to have started [Hugo] Ekitike against Bournemouth but with only one nine available for the coming months, it made sense to manage his load.
“Giving Jeremie Frimpong another 90, it would have been a big risk to keep him on. I have to emphasise the respect for the players we have.
“It’s almost constantly the same players who have to play, when we lose we get scrutinised and criticism we deserve. They are constantly available apart from the ones we have [out injured].”