Liverpool Boosted by Barcola Update as Gakpo Faces Fitness Race
Anfield gets its first bit of good news before a ball is even kicked this weekend. Andoni Iraola has calmed fears over Bradley Barcola, but Cody Gakpo is in a late fitness race ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League meeting with Fulham on Saturday.
The Reds host the winless Cottagers at 3pm, determined to stretch their unbeaten start to the league campaign. Their midweek comeback against Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League came at a cost – or so it seemed.
Barcola, Liverpool’s £123 million summer headline act, went down on the hour in that 2-1 victory and was withdrawn with what looked like a muscular problem. For a few hours, there were murmurs of panic around Anfield. A record signing, in that sort of form, limping off in September is every manager’s nightmare.
Iraola quickly put that anxiety to bed.
“We still need to train this afternoon, but Barcola was just cramps, he finished the game tired so we have to evaluate but there's no injury. He should be available if everything goes normal,” the Liverpool manager said at his pre‑match press conference on Friday.
Cramp, not a tear. Fatigue, not a lay-off. For a player already central to Liverpool’s attacking rhythm, it is a significant relief.
The picture is far less clear with Gakpo. The Dutch forward missed the Atletico tie entirely after suffering an adductor issue against Ipswich Town last week. He has been one of Liverpool’s sharpest starters to the season, with a goal and three assists in the opening three league games, and his absence would strip Iraola of a key creative outlet.
“Cody we will see,” Iraola admitted. “He did not train yesterday [Thursday], so today we will try with him and let's see if he's ready for tomorrow [Saturday] or we need to wait until the next one.”
So the decision goes down to the wire. Gakpo must prove his fitness in the final session, or Liverpool will have to adjust again, just as the front line has started to click.
While Barcola and Gakpo dominate the short-term conversation, Hugo Ekitike remains part of the long-term planning. The striker has been sidelined since rupturing his Achilles in April and is still working his way back through the slow, unforgiving stages of rehab.
“Hugo, it's difficult with these long-term injuries,” Iraola said. “He's still far. But we had a meeting with all the department to analyse and complete the list of European games and there's a small chance he could play in the last two games of the group stages, but it's too early to say. It's a big injury.
“But if we decided to put him there, it is because there's a hope and a realistic chance he could help us in January.”
So Liverpool head into Saturday with their record signing cleared, their in‑form Dutchman in doubt, and a long-term project quietly ticking towards a possible January return. Against a Fulham side still searching for a first league win, Iraola’s selection calls will say plenty about how hard he’s prepared to push this squad so early in the season.
