Gakpo's ankle: the scan is coming
Cody Gakpo will have a scan on his ankle, and Liverpool will not know how bad it is until the results land (3)(7)(9). He went off during the Netherlands' 1–2 Nations League win over Serbia on Sunday (9). James Pearce's line on it: "It's his ankle, that's all I know. Tomorrow we will know, but hopefully it's not too important" (9).
The ankle is the whole story of the international break for your team. Gakpo has started the season well and losing him for a stretch takes pace and goals off the left. The club gets its answer from the scan (7).
Isak is another one to watch
Alexander Isak has withdrawn from his squad, and that thigh issue is the other name on the worry list (4). Liverpool already count the cost of this break, with both Isak and Gakpo picking up problems (2)(6).
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The upside, if there is one: minor injuries here mean both come back to Merseyside rather than playing more minutes elsewhere (2). One former Liverpool boss has publicly defended Isak over the withdrawal (4).
City at Anfield is the one that matters
Manchester City come to Anfield on Sunday, October 11 (7). You sit sixth on 9 points from 5 games, with a +3 goal difference, and the form line reads D W W D W (Premier League).
That is the game Gakpo's scan result is actually about. A fit front line gives Andoni Iraola real options against City. No Gakpo means someone else has to carry the left side.
Trent's stance, and a left-back link
Trent Alexander-Arnold's position on a return to Liverpool has been reported amid fresh links to Tottenham's Micky van de Ven (1). Nothing is done. It is a stance, not a deal, and fans will read into it either way (1).
Van Dijk to Barcelona, per one report
A report in Poland claims Virgil van Dijk has been offered to Barcelona, with the possibility of leaving Liverpool as a free agent (8). El Nacional is the source behind it, and it lands squarely in the rumour bucket (8).
Van Dijk is your captain and the anchor of the back line. Treat it as noise until something firmer appears (8).
Minteh's agent is talking
Yankuba Minteh's agent, Baboucarr Fallaboweh, says the Brighton winger would still jump at a Liverpool move: "Myślę, że Liverpool. Nadal chciałby tam przejść. To zależy od tego, czy Liverpool ponownie uruchomi starania o niego" (11). Translation: Minteh would go, if Liverpool restart their push.
Minteh is a right-sided wide player, the sort of profile that long-term planning maps behind Mohamed Salah (11). The agent also flagged Manchester United as a possibility (11).
Wirtz, and the noise around him
Sean Dyche called Florian Wirtz "boyish" and Jonathan Tah pushed back on what he described as an extreme attack on the Liverpool midfielder's form for club and country (5). Wirtz's start has been picked apart in Germany and at home (5).
Fan-reaktioner
The mood on r/LiverpoolFC is anxious but measured. The Pearce quote on Gakpo's ankle and the mention of Isak's thigh are the two things fans keep circling, and the general read is that the scan result decides how bad this break really was.
