Liverpool suffer second injury concern against after Ibrahima Konate

Liverpool injury update after the 2-1 loss against Chelsea.

Arne Slot is hopeful that Liverpool caught Ibrahima Konate’s injury concern early enough to have avoided further damage.

stevao Willian scores the winning goal despite the challenge from Andy Robertson of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on October 04, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images) | Getty Images

placeholder image — stevao Willian scores the winning goal despite the challenge from Andy Robertson of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on October 04, 2025 in London, England. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The centre-back was withdrawn in the second half of the Reds’ 2-1 loss against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Konate was taken off when the score was 1-1, with Liverpool winger Cody Gakpo cancelling out Moises Caicedo’s thunderbolt.

Slot admitted that he already been thinking about taking off Konate and deploying Ryan Gravenberch in central defence before the setback. The Reds boss said at his post-match press conference: “I don’t know if it is a big injury, but what I do know is he limped a little bit and when I asked him he said he felt his quad a little bit.

“Then, for me, all alarm bells go off because in another sprint you never know if that is going to go good. It was also already a substitution I had in mind, maybe for a few minutes or a little bit later, because the right centre-back had a lot of ball possession and we needed to create from that position. We all know Ryan [Gravenberch] is quite good in that. It might be OK that he went off early enough but it was clear I had to take him off because he was limping.”

In addition, Andy Robertson was also spotted hobbling off the pitch after the game. The left-back had come off the bench midway through the second period but needed to be assisted by a member of Liverpool’s medical team when leaving the Stamford Bridge turf.

Robertson may have sustained his issue when Estevao Willian netted Chelsea’s 96th-minute winner at the back post.

Konate and Robertson have been called up for international duty with France and Scotland respectively. It remains to be seen whether they will head off to represent their nations in World Cup qualifiers or remain on Merseyside for treatment.

Liverpool already have Alisson Becker sidelined for a period, with the goalkeeper being forced off in the 1-0 Champions League loss to Galatasaray. Giovanni Leoni will miss at least a year after rupturing his ACL and having surgery earlier this week.