Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola has confirmed that the team's £123million summer signing from Paris Saint-Germain, Barcola, suffered from cramp in his first full Premier League debut against Atletico Madrid, but is not injured. Iraola also expressed doubts about whether Cody Gakpo will recover in time to play against Fulham due to an adductor issue. The predicted Liverpool XI includes Barcola and Gakpo, with Alexander Isak set to lead the line again. The match takes place at Anfield on Saturday, September 12, 2026, at 3pm BST.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-11,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Bradley Barcola, Liverpool's £123 million signing from Paris Saint-Germain, made his first start for the club in a Champions League match against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. Despite scoring two goals, he had to be substituted after 60 minutes due to cramp rather than injury. Manager Andoni Iraola confirmed Barcola could play in Liverpool's upcoming Premier League match against Fulham if there are no further issues. Meanwhile, Cody Gakpo, who has a goal contribution in every Premier League game this season, missed the Atletico Madrid match due to an adductor issue but is on the bench for Fulham with his availability uncertain. The team news for the Fulham clash sees Barcola starting alongside other new signings like Victor Munoz and Milos Kerkez, who also dealt with cramp during the recent Champions League tie.
Written for “Liverpool Injury Update Match News” on 2026-09-12,
grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 7755 · logged 2026-09-11
The France international was handed his full Liverpool debut in the Champions League win over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, though was substituted on the hour mark which sparked fears of an injury blow.
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which → hand → blow
However, Andoni Iraola allayed those fears by insisting the £123million summer signing from Paris Saint-Germain was suffering from cramp.
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signing → allay → cramp
"Barcola was just cramp,” the Spaniard said on Friday.
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Spaniard → say → Friday
“We have to evaluate how he is today, but there is no injury.
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he → have → ?
I think he should be available if everything goes normal.
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everything → think → ?
“He played 30 the other day [and] today we had some question marks, how many minutes he can give us and probably now we know.”
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we → play → us
The Dutchman, who has a goal contribution in every Premier League match so far this season, missed the win over Atletico with an adductor issue and there is no guarantee he will return for the visit of the Cottagers.
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he → have → Cottagers
"Cody, we will see,” Iraola continued.
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Iraola → see → ?
“We will try today and see if he is ready for tomorrow or if we need to wait until the next one."
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we → try → one
Rio Ngumoha and Victor Munoz are on standby if Gakpo fails to recover, while Jeremie Frimpong is also an option at right-wing.
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Frimpong → fail → wing
Milos Kerkez should be fine to keep his place at left-back despite also suffering from cramp late on in the Champions League tie, meaning Iraola can name an unchanged back four for the third game in a row.
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Iraola → keep → row
Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai are set to continue in midfield, with changes expected in next week’s Carabao Cup third round meeting with Tottenham.
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changes → set → Tottenham
Alexander Isak will look to add to his three Premier League goals as he leads the line again.
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he → look → line
