Liverpool rocked by fresh injury scare ahead of pivotal Man City clash at Anfield

Liverpool could find themselves without Ibrahima Konate on Sunday when they welcome Manchester City to Anfield. The Reds have been through something of an injury crisis over the last few weeks and they will still without a host of key names when they take on City.

The last thing Jurgen Klopp's side need is another injury, then, and they'll be checking on the health of Konate after seeing him limp out of their Europa League clash against Sparta Prague on Thursday night. The centre-back hit the deck just a few minutes into the second half with what appeared to be a muscle injury.

After receiving treatment on the field of play, the defender was withdrawn as Virgil van Dijk stepped onto the field. The substitution was Liverpool's second of the match with Joe Gomez being withdrawn at half-time to be replaced by Conor Bradley.

Klopp was able to name Mo Salah on the bench for the clash in the Czech Republic as he returns from injury, but the fact that he wasn't deemed ready to start the game casts some doubt on what he might be capable of on Sunday against Pep Guardiola's side.

It's a game City quite simply cannot afford to lose if they're to retain their Premier League crown, with Liverpool sitting one point above them in the table with 11 games remaining. City, who are unbeaten in 20 games in all competitions and have been in red hot form of late, have the opportunity to move to the Premier League summit for the first time since November and the news of another setback at Anfield might just bolster their chances of doing that.

Anfield has been something of a bogey ground for City, though, picking up just two wins in their 26 Premier League games on the red side of Merseyside. Sunday's game is the first of two fixtures through March that could be pivotal in the title race, with City set to host Arsenal later in the month.