Liverpool dealt fitness blow as star forward misses pre-PSG training session

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·4. März 2025

Liverpool dealt fitness blow as star forward misses pre-PSG training session

Liverpool have been left sweating over the fitness of forward Cody Gakpo after the Dutch international was not spotted in Tuesday's open training session.

The Reds are preparing for a mammoth last 16 tie against runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain, whose unconvincing form in the league phase saw them emerge as the unwanted reward for Liverpool's first-placed finish.

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Manager Arne Slot will know Liverpool need to be at their strongest to navigate another pre-tournament favourite, but he may be without Gakpo for Wednesday's first leg. The 25-year-old, who has 16 goals in 38 games this season, has only just returned from a knock in the Merseyside derby which kept him out for two games in February.

Losing Gakpo would be an enormous blow for Liverpool but, for PSG, it would be a blessing as their confident manager Luis Enrique warned his side about the threat posed by Liverpool's "fighter jets" in attack.

"It will be intense," Enrique said. "On paper, it is one of the best matches you can watch in Europe. They're one of the best teams in terms of counter-attacking.

"We have to be careful that we don't suffer from their transitions. They have three fighter jets in attack, it's not easy to stop them if we don't impose our game on them."

Despite sitting out the open training session, Gakpo was included in Liverpool's 24-player matchday squad. Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Federico Chiesa will also travel to Paris and offer Slot an abundance of attacking alternatives if Gakpo is unable to start.