Aston Villavs.Liverpool

The Reds will temporarily move 10 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table with victory over the Lions, having scraped a nervy 2-1 success over Wolverhampton Wanderers at the weekend.

However, the league leaders will have to do so without both Gakpo and Gomez, the former of whom was missing from the Wolves win with the knock he suffered in last week's Merseyside derby.

Meanwhile, Gomez had only just made his return from one hamstring problem before suffering another in the FA Cup loss to Plymouth Argyle, and Slot has admitted that the latter will be missing for several weeks, possibly more.

"I think both [Gakpo and Gomez] are not available for tomorrow. Cody is close to being back and Joe will take quite a long time. He is going to be out for numerous weeks because of a hamstring injury," Slot told reporters at his pre-game press conference.

Slot admits Gomez might need surgery on hamstring injury

While Gakpo could potentially return for the weekend's battle with Manchester City, Gomez is facing a much longer spell on the sidelines with his second hamstring problem of the year.

The long-serving defender missed Liverpool's first 11 matches of 2025 after hurting himself against West Ham United in December, and he only lasted 11 minutes against Plymouth before succumbing to another hamstring problem.

Slot conceded that Gomez might need to go under the knife to correct the issue but stressed that the club had not made a final decision on the course of action, adding: "He tries everything to be with the team.

"He works really hard to come back and then first game when he came back, after two or three minutes we saw him making a sprint and now he is out for weeks again. That's always very hard for a player in every part of the season, let alone in the part of the season that everybody is looking forward to.

"He will a miss large part of the end of the season but we expect him to be back in the end phase of the season. He might [need surgery] but that is something we still have to assess."

Gakpo and Gomez represent two of three injury-related absentees for Liverpool, who are also managing without young midfielder Tyler Morton on account of his shoulder injury.

Could Liverpool make any changes for Villa match?

Gakpo's absence from the Wolves encounter saw Slot introduce Diogo Jota into his place, but the extremely tight turnaround between games against Vitor Pereira's side, Villa and Man City could tempt the ex-Feyenoord boss into a few alterations.

Darwin Nunez is an alternative option in the final third, albeit not one who has set the world alight this term, while Curtis Jones is back from a ban and could threaten Dominik Szoboszlai's place in the number 10 role.

However, Trent Alexander-Arnold should reprise his role over Conor Bradley, having been taken off on the 64-minute mark at the weekend, while Ibrahima Konate's half-time withdrawal for Jarell Quansah was tactical after he avoided a possible second yellow card.

Liverpool are still yet to lose away from home in the 2024-25 Premier League season, achieving nine wins and four draws from their 13 top-flight contests on the road this term.

Written by

Ben Knapton