Liverpool star insists 'we are not like them' about Arsenal after nasty comment

Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate has extended a hand of sportsmanship towards Arsenal, stating that the Reds “wish no harm” following Bukayo Saka’s injury during the Gunners’ 5-1 triumph over Crystal Palace.

The injury, which saw Saka leave Selhurst Park on crutches to leave the Gunners sweating over a lengthy lay-off, is a significant blow to Arsenal as they vie with Liverpool for the Premier League title.

This has led to some heated exchanges between fans on social media platform X. Konate, who himself suffered a knee injury in November during Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Real Madrid, responded to one social media post after an Arsenal fan nastily wrote: “Rivalry aside, I hope Konate’s injury is serious.”

In response, one Liverpool fan said following Saka’s setback: “Karma is a b**ch.” But Konate responded to the supporter to say: “We are not like them…, we wish no harm. anyway In Sha Allah big 3 pts today.”

Liverpool manager Arne Slot is hopeful that Konate will return to action soon, but refrained from giving a specific date when asked about the player’s progress on Friday.

He said: “These are the two (Konate and Conor Bradley) that are still in red, so they don’t train with us at the moment. But they are on their way back, but they don’t train with the team yet.”

“That is quite difficult [to say timescale]. Jota I thought would have been back earlier but sometimes the end stage of rehab takes longer, sometimes they join (training) and then they are not completely ready to start.

“So let’s wait and see but we have a good rehab team here who have done some good work with Alisson and a few others.

“The main thing is if they come back they are ready to come back, let’s not focus on two or three days, it’s more important for them to stay fit for the long term. Let’s hope with Conor and Ibou the same thing happens.”