Liverpoolvs.Wolves

The Netherlands international completed 69 minutes of Wednesday's engrossing 2-2 Merseyside derby draw with Everton, where James Tarkowski's 98th-minute leveller denied Liverpool victory in astonishing circumstances.

At the time, there was little concern about Gakpo's condition as he was replaced by Darwin Nunez, but speaking to journalists in Friday's pre-game press conference, Slot revealed that the attacker had sustained a blow.

"Cody is a bit of a doubt as well, so let's wait [to see] how he is today. I had to take him off because of an injury, because he got a knock, so let's see how he is today," the Dutchman told reporters.

Gakpo might be one of three injury-related absentees for Liverpool against Vitor Pereira's men, as Joe Gomez (hamstring) and Tyler Morton (shoulder) are also still out of contention for the time being.

Gakpo doubtful for Liverpool game - Nunez's time to shine?

The 25-year-old has proven his worth to Slot in the 2024-25 Premier League season with a total of eight goals and three assists from 24 top-flight outings, despite failing to score in his first nine league games of the season.

Should Gakpo not be risked for the visit of Wolves, Slot will be expected to revert Luis Diaz to a left-wing position and introduce Nunez into the final third for what would be just the Uruguayan's eighth top-flight start of the season.

Nunez has just four goals next to his name from 19 Premier League outings this season, and he has only netted once from five previous appearances against Wolves, which came in the third round of the 2022-23 FA Cup.

As well as Gakpo, Gomez and Morton, Liverpool will have to work around the absence of banned midfielder Curtis Jones, who was dismissed in the aftermath of the final Merseyside derby draw at Goodison Park.

The Englishman charged over to Abdoulaye Doucoure after the Everton midfielder celebrated in front of the away end, engaging in a fracas before teammates and security staff intervened and pulled both men apart.

Slot opens up on red card regret from Merseyside derby

Both Jones and Doucoure saw red, as did Liverpool boss Slot, who had seemingly said something unsavoury to referee Michael Oliver at full time after Tarkowski's winner was allowed to stand despite a hint of a foul.

The Premier League retracted a statement on Thursday claiming that Slot would serve a two-game ban for using abusive and/or insulting language, and as he waits to learn whether he will be on the touchline this weekend, he admitted that he looked back on the Goodison Park incident with regret.

"What happened was that, during the stoppage time, there was a lot that happened and the emotions got the better of me," the Liverpool head coach added.

"I would have loved to do it differently if I could go back. I hope to do it differently the next time as well. But on what happened and what was said, I told you it was an ongoing process and I don't want to disturb that."

Liverpool's draw in midweek took them seven points clear of Arsenal in the Premier League table on the same number of matches, although the Gunners can cut the deficit down to four by beating Leicester City in Saturday's early kickoff.

Written by

Ben Knapton