England have now confirmed that Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez has suffered a knee injury in training earlier today.
Southgate insisted that it’s too early to judge how ‘serious’ the injury will be, but did add that Gomez was in a ‘fair bit of pain’ after the blow.
The Three Lions’ boss then confirmed that it isn’t a ‘good situation’, in heartbreaking news for the 23-year-old and a massive setback for the injury-stricken Reds.
Liverpool have stated that Gomez will undergo further diagnosis after the club’s medical team assess him when he returns.
Gareth Southgate on @J_Gomez97‘s injury: “We’ve got to wait and see what the scans show. We’re all hopeful for him, but it’s not a good situation. I don’t see him being involved in our games.”https://t.co/3KD9G6cwvq
— England (@England) November 11, 2020
“I can’t tell you how serious it is because he’s yet to have scans. What was upsetting was that he was in a fair bit of pain and the fact that nobody was around him when the injury happened.”
“So I didn’t like that element of it. But, we’ve just got to wait and see what the scans show.”
“We’re all hopeful for him that it’s not what it might be but it is not a good situation and I don’t see him being involved in the games with us, that’s for sure.”
When pressed by the media on whether Gomez suffered an ACL injury that could potentially keep him out for the entire season, Southgate responded with:
“We can’t speculate on the exact nature of the injury, it’s not possible until we’ve seen scans.”
“So as I say, my immediate thoughts are with him, he ‘s had some difficulties with injuries in the past.”
“So we’re hoping and as much as we possibly can and praying that it’s not going to be a long-term one, but we just have to see.”
Jurgen Klopp is already facing a defensive dilemma with Virgil van Dijk sidelined with a long-term knee injury, Fabinho sidelined and Joel Matip only just returning to action in the draw against Man City.
The reigning champions have also missed the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, summer signing Kostas Tsimikas and Thiago Alcantara, as well as Naby Keita with injuries so far this season.
Injuries to key centre-back options have led to the Reds calling on promising youngster Rhys Williams this season and also handing an appearance to another academy graduate in Nat Phillips.
It’s good to see that Southgate wasn’t drawn into a question on whether Gomez has suffered a devastating blow to his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), now isn’t the time to speculate on the extent of the injury at all. It should all be about supporting Joe at this tough time.