Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
The Brazilian goalkeeper was subbed off at halftime in City’s match against Atalante.
A gargantuan match with Manchester City looms and Liverpool will take any advantage they can grasp in order to collect maximum points from their Premier League title rivals. Jürgen Klopp will have a mostly complete squad from which to create a starting XI and Fabinho is set to return, destined to collect his fifth yellow card of the season but who cares anymore? On the other hand, Pep Guardiola could be a less than stellar group against Liverpool on Sunday.
Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane are on the long-term injured list. Rodri is on the mend but stilled ruled out for the weekend. Zinchenko is out. David Silva isn’t expected to be fit until next week at the earliest. And now, as of halftime in City’s match at Atalanta, Ederson is a big question mark for the big showdown at Anfield. The Brazilian goalkeeper left the pitch with a limp and was replaced with Claudio Bravo for the second half.
At the time of asking, Guardiola had no idea what was going on.
“Honestly, right now, I don’t know,” Pep said. “It was a muscular problem.
“He felt uncomfortable in the last few minutes of the first-half. We will see how he is tomorrow.
”It was muscular, in front here [thigh]. We want to try with him, but we’re not going to take a risk.
Bravo’s time in the spotlight was cut short due to being shown the red card in the 81st minute of the match. It’s okay to laugh.
Now, Claudio could be Pep’s number one on Sunday if Ederson’s injury is serious enough to keep him out. Guardiola was optimistic but resigned to the idea of playing the deflated Bravo over Ederson.
“He’s an incredible, experienced professional,” said Guardiola. “If Ederson is ready, he is going to play. If not we will play Claudio. We trust him. Why should I doubt any players I have in my squad?”
Ederson has plenty of days to make a recovery from something innocuous. It’s three or four days from now depending on timezone factors. But if it’s something more serious, and the Brazilian is sidelined, it’s another star on Liverpool’s advantage sash heading into maybe the most important match in the world. Ever.
