Soccer

Liverpool star Cody Gakpo set for 'several weeks out' after Spurs loss

Liverpool star Cody Gakpo is set for ‘several weeks out’ after leaving Tottenham defeat with his knee in a brace – adding to Jurgen Klopp’s frustrations

  • The Dutch midfielder could make his return after the next international break
  • Read more: Liverpool demand ‘escalation and resolution’ over PGMOL statement
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Cody Gakpo is set to be sidelined for ‘several weeks’ after he left the Tottenham game on the weekend with his knee in a brace.

The Dutch attacker injured himself in the act of scoring Liverpool’s only goal in their 2-1 defeat on Saturday and was substituted at half time.

Jurgen Klopp previously said his ‘biggest problem’ after the Tottenham game was losing Gakpo to injury and not the VAR controversy surrounding Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal. 

Dutch journalist Rik Elfrink hinted that Gakpo might return to club football after the October international break.

He wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: ‘Cody Gakpo is expected to be out for several weeks at Liverpool. If all goes well, a few weeks. 

Liverpool’s goalscorer Cody Gakpo went down to the ground in pain, before he was replaced

Jurgen Klopp insisted the ‘biggest problem’ from Liverpool’s loss to Spurs is Gakpo’s injury

‘The Dutch matches in October do not seem feasible for the former PSV player at the moment.’

Gakpo’s injury only adds to Liverpool’s growing absence list as Klopp begrudged that he had lost three players from the game via upcoming suspensions and injury.

After the match, Klopp explained the attacker’s ‘really bad’ injury to the club’s website.  

‘We got a free-kick and he got injured and he is now with a brace limping down the corridor.

‘That’s my biggest problem, to be honest, in this moment. We lost two and maybe a third player. Really bad, really bad. So, yes, that’s something we have to deal with obviously.’

When asked if Gakpo’s injury was serious, the German replied: ‘Possibly, I don’t know. He wore a brace. He scored a goal but afterwards, but after that shot he felt it even more. It was from the foul before.’

Liverpool’s defeat on Saturday was filled with VAR controversies, including two red cards for the visitors and a goal being incorrectly ruled out for offside. 

Refereeing body PGMOL acknowledged a ‘significant human error’ in the game and contacted Liverpool following the full time whistle.

Klopp revealed the forward left the ground in a knee brace having appeared to worsen the injury when he scored

The disallowed goal came about when Liverpool countered just moments after Jones was sent off. Mohamed Salah played through Diaz, who slotted home, but the goal was immediately flagged offside.

Replays seemed to show the forward was onside and that has now been confirmed by the refereeing body.

Gary Neville slammed the decision on Sky Sports, saying: ‘We have the lines on the pitch. These groundspeople never get a line wrong. They are so accurate. Look at the lines on the pitch.

‘I’ve defended VAR offsides as a matter of fact. There’s been a few I thought that’s not right. To me that one there… just no. It was all too quick. It was so quick. It wasn’t right. At the time I was like, OK let’s move on.

‘That is clearly Romero’s foot and Diaz’s shoulder. There’s only two players in shot. It’s almost now like what are they doing? They’re picking the wrong cameras to do the lines on… the wrong angles. It’s just weird! Something doesn’t feel right.’

Fellow Sky pundit Jamie Carragher posted on X: ‘Shocking mistake, but this is nothing to do with the drawing of lines. The VAR have missed the Spurs centre back & have gone off Diaz clearly ahead of the full back.

‘This season when an offside has been obvious they have tried to speed it up by getting the game going quickly again & not drew the lines. An awful mistake to not see the Spurs defender with the outstretched leg.’

PGMOL has acknowledged that Luis Diaz’s goal against Tottenham was incorrectly ruled out

beIN Sports drew their own lines on their broadcast to show how the goal should have stood

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