Cody Gakpo's Injury Update: Liverpool Faces Fulham Challenge

Liverpool opened their Champions League league-phase campaign with a win over Atletico – but they had to do it without one of their most in-form players.

Cody Gakpo never even made the bench.

The Dutch forward missed the matchday squad entirely after sitting out Tuesday’s key training session, and head coach Andoni Iraola later revealed why. Gakpo has been struggling with niggles in both adductors after his previous 90-minute outing, discomfort that proved too much to risk despite Liverpool’s 2–1 victory.

Crucially for Liverpool, the issue is not being treated as a serious, long-term injury. The problem is timing.

“He doesn’t have a proper injury, but he finished with niggles in both of the adductors the other day,” Iraola told the club’s official channels. “We expected to have him for today, [but] it hasn’t been possible. It’s not a big thing, but the problem is we play here [again] in two days and a half.”

That rapid turnaround before the weekend has turned Gakpo’s situation into a genuine selection headache. Fulham are next at the same venue, and Iraola simply cannot say if his forward will be ready.

“I don’t know [if he will be back for Fulham]. I hope so, but I don’t know,” he admitted.

The uncertainty cuts deeper because of the level Gakpo has hit under his new manager. He has exploded out of the blocks this season: one goal, three assists in his first three games, and a constant threat between the lines.

His last league outing underlined that surge. Gakpo played the full 90 minutes on Friday night, dictating the attacking rhythm and laying on two assists for Alexander Isak in a controlled 2–0 win over Ipswich Town. It was the kind of performance that makes a coach build a game plan around you.

Now Iraola is juggling risk and reward.

“I think now is a moment of recovery in these two days,” he said. “Let’s see how Bradley has finished, how Cody is [and] if he can give us some minutes. If not, Rio, Victor, I think today everyone has done a big effort.”

The message to his squad is clear: rest, reset, and be ready. The schedule offers no mercy.

“We need to recover, we need to regroup and think because in two days and a half we play again here [against] Fulham, it’s a very important game again for us. So, I hope we can have Cody with us, but I cannot guarantee it.”

Liverpool have found a way to win without Gakpo in Europe. The real test comes if they have to do the same again, so soon, in the league.