Florian Wirtz injury update: Setback rules Liverpool star out of Wolves clash
Arne Slot has confirmed that Florian Wirtz is unlikely to recover from his back injury in time for Liverpool's upcoming fixture against Wolves. The German playmaker missed the Reds' win over West Ham United and Slot does not expect him to be available for the next game on Tuesday.
Arne Slot has revealed he does not expect Florian Wirtz to have recovered from his injury in time for Liverpool's next fixture against Wolves. The German playmaker was absent from the Reds squad on Saturday afternoon for the 5-2 win over West Ham United due to a back problem and his manager is not confident he will have the former Bayern Leverkusen star available for their next Premier League game on Tuesday.Wirtz has enjoyed a stronger second half to the season after a difficult start to his Liverpool career. He bagged four goals and two assists during a six-game stretch in all competitions in January, but he was forced to pull out of the team that would beat Nottingham Forest last week after getting injured during the pre-match warm-up.Slot confirmed the 22-year-old would miss the clash with West Ham, with the Reds suffering a couple of scares before they eventually powered their way to a 5-2 victory on Merseyside. Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister scored to make it 3-0 before half-time, though Tomas Soucek reduced the deficit for the Hammers shortly after the break.Cody Gakpo and Valentin Castellanos then netted before an own goal from Axel Disasi wrapped up the win for Slot's team.Wirtz was absent from Saturday's squad and Slot has now revealed he's unlikely to recover in time for the next game, which comes against Wolves on Tuesday during the upcoming midweek round of Premier League games.He said: "I think that will be too early, but I said last week I didn’t expect him not to be available for today, so sometimes with an injury things can develop in a positive way or in a negative way. Now we are thinking it doesn’t have to take too long, but Tuesday will probably be too early. The week after will be tight as things stand now, but as I said, I thought that he would be available for today as well, which didn’t happen unfortunately."Liverpool's first three goals on Saturday all came as a result of corner routines, which Slot admitted pleased him, having previously bemoaned his side's weaknesses when defending dead-ball situations.He added: "That’s very pleasing. First of all, because that’s the reason why we won [and] second of all, because when I was just standing around your colleagues people said, ‘Well played, well played,’ and I said, ‘In my opinion, we’ve played better this season.’ We played OK to good – so, we were OK to good but it wasn’t the best game of the season. We’ve played better when we’ve lost [and] we’ve played better when we conceded set-pieces."But as I always said, things went back to normal. We created quite a lot of chances from set-pieces in the first part of the season and almost every set-piece we conceded went in, and today you could see exactly the opposite happening. I think one of their first big chances was a set-piece that would have gone in in the first six or seven months [of the season], 100 per cent sure. But now we did it and we start scoring from set-pieces and then things look much brighter and better than when you don’t, and that’s really pleasing for us, for the team and for our fans as well."Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingLiverpool will have high hopes of winning at bottom-placed Wolves on Tuesday, even if the Wanderers secured their second league win of the season against Aston Villa on Friday night. After that, the Reds make another trip to Molineux, this time in the FA Cup fifth round, before facing Galatasaray twice over two legs in the Champions League last 16 either side of a match against Tottenham Hotspur.
Injury setback for Wirtz
Florian Wirtz's injury struggles continue as Arne Slot provided an update on the German star's availability for Liverpool's next game against Wolves. The playmaker suffered a back problem that kept him out of the recent clash with West Ham United, and Slot revealed that Wirtz is unlikely to make a swift recovery, ruling him out for the upcoming fixture.
Liverpool's strong performance against West Ham
Despite Wirtz's absence, Liverpool secured a convincing 5-2 win over West Ham United. Goals from Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk, Alexis Mac Allister, Cody Gakpo, and Valentin Castellanos sealed the victory for Arne Slot's side. The team's proficiency from corner routines was particularly pleasing for Slot, as they capitalized on set-piece opportunities to score crucial goals.
Upcoming fixtures for Liverpool
Following the clash with Wolves, Liverpool have a busy schedule ahead, including an FA Cup fifth-round tie against Wolves, Champions League matches against Galatasaray, and a Premier League encounter with Tottenham Hotspur. Despite the challenges posed by a packed fixture list, Liverpool will aim to maintain their momentum and secure positive results across all competitions.




