Mamadou Sakho must be hurting badly as he isn’t the type to allow a little pain to keep him off the field.
Sakho limped out Liverpool’s 2-1 Premier League loss to Crystal Palace on Sunday at Anfield. Sakho landed awkwardly in the 34th minute and appeared to injure his right knee. Yannick Bolasie was nearby, but Sakho didn’t clearly land on the Crystal Palace winger’s foot before spinning sharply.
Sakho received treatment on the field for three minutes. Most assumed his day would end there, but he astonishingly played on for another three minutes before Dejan Lovren replaced him at center back.
After the game, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said Sakho will undergo a scan Monday to determine the extent of his injury, according to The BBC and The Liverpool Echo’s Neil Jones.
Sakho, 25, has made 11 appearances for Liverpool this season, and his presence coincided with the end of the Reds’ 11-game unbeaten streak. Sakho was out of Liverpool’s gameday squad in the first two games of the season but he overtook Lovren in former manager Brendan Rodgers’ pecking order of center backs in late September. Sakho remained the first-choice partner to Martin Skrtel at the heart of the Reds’ defense after Klopp replaced Rodgers as manager.
Liverpool doesn’t play again until Nov. 21 when it visits Manchester City.
If the injury sidelines Sakho for a lengthy period of time, Liverpool will have just Lovren and Skrtel among its regulars at center back.
Kolo Toure, 34, has missed the last three games because of a hamstring injury. Toure limped out of his previous two appearances with various knocks. The Ivorian isn’t expected to return until the end of November.
Liverpool-Crystal Palace Wrap: Reds’ first Klopp-era loss >>
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@lequipe
