Andoni Iraola confirms double injury blow for Liverpool ahead of Man City clash

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Liverpool face a striker shortage against Manchester City on Sunday after both Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo were ruled out.

The £125m forward has a thigh injury and the in-form winger Gakpo an ankle problem and while neither is serious, it leaves head coach Andoni Iraola wondering whether to pick the youngster Lewis Koumas or to use another player out of position in attack.

Isak has scored four goals for Liverpool this season but was hurt playing for Sweden against Romania while Gakpo, who can stand in as a centre-forward, is sidelined after representing the Netherlands.

“Alex Isak and Cody Gakpo will not play the game,” said Iraola. “They are not ready. Unfortunately for us, both got injuries during the international break.

“As a club manager, you are always waiting until the games and [hope] the doctor doesn’t call you or give you bad news. In this case we have been unlucky.

“Cody has an ankle injury. He has had some before in his career and it’s a matter of him dealing with the pain. When you twist your ankle, it was a really bad tackle I think, he is doing things individually but he isn’t ready for Sunday.

“Alex has a thigh injury. It’s not a massive injury, it’s a small injury. Whenever he feels ready. They both don’t look like long-term, we will be analysing day to day but they aren’t going to be ready on Sunday.

“Even before that we don’t have Hugo Ekitike, that is another striker I am looking forward to having available but we don’t have Hugo, we don’t have Alex. We will maybe recover Fede Chiesa but he hasn’t played any minutes as he has been recovering from injury and has been doing a very good job in the international break with the small group we have.

“Of the four No 9s it’s true we probably have only Koumas but we have some other options, wingers who have played up front in other teams and I think we will put an 11 with level enough to compete throughout the game.”

Koumas has never started a Premier League game but excelled for Liverpool in their Carabao Cup win over Tottenham.

And Iraola added: “Koumas has our trust. I have always liked the player. He has already shown in important minutes that he is ready to go. We also have other players who can cover the positions. Now we will need to make decisions.”

Iraola also confirmed that defender Jeremy Jacquet is fit to play.