‘Ready to play’ – Journalist confirms injury boost for Liverpool prior to Newcastle clash

Liverpool have received some welcome injury news regarding one player ahead of their midweek Premier League clash against Newcastle.

The Reds’ imperious form has been made all the more impressive by the fact that they’ve had to battle on without several first-team regulars in recent weeks, with the likes of Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa sidelined.

Conor Bradley, Ibrahima Konate and Kostas Tsimikas have all been added to the casualty list in recent days as well, with Arne Slot left precariously threadbare in terms of his defensive options.

Liverpool handed welcome injury boost

Amid that succession of body blows, there has been one piece of good news on the injury front for Liverpool today, and it concerns one of the club’s up-and-coming talents.

Journalist Lewis Bower posted on X on Monday: “I am reliably told that James Balagizi has been absent due to a hamstring injury he picked up after the Liverpool U21 September fixture against Sunderland and he is now back fit, ‘ready to play’ and has been training with the first-team.”

I am reliably told that James Balagizi has been absent due to a hamstring injury he picked up after the Liverpool U21 September fixture against Sunderland and he is now back fit, 'ready to play' and has been training with the first-team.

— Lewis Bower (@LewisBower2021) December 2, 2024

Balagizi has endured an injury-hit career already

Unfortunately Balagizi is no stranger to injury problems, having seen a loan spell at Crawley cut short two seasons ago for that reason, and he’s managed just one appearance for Liverpool’s under-21s so far this term (when he scored one goal and set up another in a 3-2 win over Sunderland).

His involvement in first-team training will come as an enormous boost to him as he feels his way back into action, and while he’s highly unlikely to be given a senior Reds debut at Newcastle in midweek, it’s not unthinkable that he could be on the bench at St James’ Park.

The 21-year-old, who was previously in Manchester City’s academy, has wowed many of those who’ve watched him in the flesh on Merseyside, with James Pearce once tweeting: ‘If Balagizi doesn’t make it at the highest level I’ll be amazed. He’s got the lot.’

If the youngster can avoid any further injury complications over the next few weeks, he might just be entrusted with a first competitive appearance for Liverpool when they host Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup in January, a fixture where Slot seems very likely to rotate his line-up heavily.

Let’s hope that Balagizi can soon make up for lost time after a false start to his season.

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