Liverpool manager Arne Slott has revealed that defender Joe Gomez is not close to returning from a hamstring injury injury.
Gomez limped out of the 5-0 win over West Ham United on December 29 and was initially expected to be out for “a few weeks”, prompting questions about a possible return for Tuesday’s meeting with surprise package Nottingham Forest.
Asked how far Gomez was from a return, a disappointed Slot confirmed: “Pretty far. He’s definitely not with the team and Darwin yet [Nunez] is suspended. They are the ones we will miss tomorrow.”
Forest are the only team to beat Liverpool so far in Premier League this season, and Slot has promised that he won’t side with Nun Espirito Santo in his quest for revenge.
“They showed in retrospect how good a team they are,” Slot said about the loss. “Generally, when Liverpool loses a home game… at which point Virgil [van Dijk] played 100 home games and lost only once.
“It was hard for me to lose that day. Looking back and where they are in the league, maybe it’s not such a shock. They had a good game plan and brought in a winger who did so well.
“I’ve always said that you can best judge the table halfway through the season and that moment is now. If Forest are up there with us, with Arsenal, Chelsea, [Manchester] City and all the others are definitely a team that competes with us and other teams.
“They deserve to be treated like this if you look at the way they play, if you look at their performances and results. It will be a very difficult challenge to get a result tomorrow.”
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