Liverpool defender may miss final game of season after training ground head injury

Sepp van den Berg is a doubt to miss what he will hope to be Mainz’s final game of the season - having enjoyed a highly fruitful loan spell away from Liverpool.

The defender has thrived at the Bundesliga outfit, scoring two goals in 34 appearances. Mainz had been at risk of relegation for much of the campaign or being in the play-offs for survival. But Die Nullfünfer have put a string of unbeaten results together in the final eight games, winning four and drawing four.

Last weekend, Mainz earned a 3-0 victory over Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund, with van den Berg being ever-present during the pivotal run. As a result, Bo Henriksen’s side have propelled themselves up to 15th.

They head to Wolfsburg on Saturday needing only a point to stay up, while they could finish as high as 13th. But van den Berg will have to be assessed to see if he can feature after suffering a head injury in training when a volley hit the back of his head. Via Kicker, Henriksen said: "I think it's not that bad.”

Van Den Berg has spent the past three-and-a-half seasons on loan away from Liverpool, having been signed from Dutch side PEC Zwolle in 2019.

The centre-back had 18 months representing Championship side Preston North End and he faces the Reds in the Carabao Cup during the 2021-22 campaign. Last term, he joined Stuttgart but had injury problems and could feature only nine times. But the 22-year-old has thrived at Mainz and will head back to Liverpool in the summer with an intriguing future ahead. Van den Berg has a year remaining on his Anfield deal.