{"id":5671,"date":"2026-05-08T03:27:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T03:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=5671"},"modified":"2026-05-08T03:27:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T03:27:40","slug":"liverpool-defender-absent-in-training-before-chelsea-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=5671","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool defender absent in training before Chelsea game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"content\" itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/NewsArticle\">\n<!-- google_ad_section_start --><\/p>\n<h6>News<span> \u00bb <\/span>Premier League news<span> \u00bb <\/span>Chelsea news<\/h6>\n<p class=\"articletimestamp\">May 7, 2026 20:43 GMT (UK), by <!-- Author Start -->Sri Aswin<!-- Author End -->\n<\/p>\n<h6>View Chelsea summer 2026 transfer targets<\/h6>\n<div style=\"float:right\">\n<figure>\n<p class=\"article_image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.eyefootball.com\/imghold\/largestIbrahima_Konate_2026.jpg\" title=\"Liverpool defender absent in training before Chelsea game\" alt=\"Liverpool defender absent in training before Chelsea game\" itemprop=\"image\"\/><\/p><figcaption><em itemprop=\"articleSection\">Konate absent for Chelsea game?<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><span itemprop=\"articleBody\"><br \/>\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"font-size:16px\">\n<strong>Liverpool defender <span itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Person\"><span itemprop=\"name\">Ibrahima Konate<\/span><\/span>  is reportedly doubtful ahead of the Premier League meeting against Chelsea at Anfield this weekend.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><!-- responsive_ad --><\/p>\n<p>The Frenchman has been a key player in the heart of the Reds&#8217; defence alongside <span itemscope=\"\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Person\"><span itemprop=\"name\">Virgil van Dijk<\/span><\/span>and has barely been out of the starting XI.<\/p>\n<p>He started the recent loss at Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend, but also picked up a minor knock late in the same game.<\/p>\n<p>Konate was absent from Thursday&#8217;s open training session, and reports indicate that he may be recovering after the untimely issue against United.<\/p>\n<p>The former RB Leipzig centre-back could be assessed over the next 24 hours, given Liverpool host Chelsea in an early lunch-time kick-off on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Liverpool have a good goal difference over the chasing pack. A win against the Blues at home on Sunday would pretty much secure Champions League qualification.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Konate is on the cusp of penning a new long-term deal with the Reds. He has already agreed on terms and a renewal could be sorted this month.<br \/><!-- Article End --><\/p>\n<p><!-- google_ad_section_end --><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p><!-- newadv --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>(function(d, s, id) {\nvar js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)(0);\nif (d.getElementById(id)) return;\njs = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\njs.src = \"\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\";\nfjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>News \u00bb Premier League news \u00bb Chelsea news May 7, 2026 20:43 GMT (UK), by&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}