Monday may have been one of the most defining days in our first season under Marco Silva, even though we took to the field on Sunday, as the Liverpool Echo have noted that the club were expecting to find out the full extent of Richarlison’s injury.
The 21-year-old had taken a blow to the ribs in the first half of our resounding win over Manchester United, and soldiered on to make it to the break, but was forced to come off shortly after the interval, when he was replaced by Theo Walcott.
Richarlison managed to make a difference before being forced off through injury, though, by firing home his 13th goal of the season with an acrobatic volley on the edge of the six-yard box to open the scoring.
Despite only playing 51 minutes, the mega-money summer arrival also managed to fashion a further five shots, complete 92% of his passes, and won two aerial duels – no player all game attempted more shots than Richarlison.
Losing his input for the final three games of the season could define how our maiden campaign under Silva ends, as beating the Red Devils moved us onto 49 points and into the coveted seventh place, albeit having played a game more than Watford.
Thankfully, we should not have long to wait before we know how long – if at all – Richarlison will be out for, as the Liverpool Echo claim that the club wish to know the full extent of his injury by the time the squad arrives for training on Tuesday morning.
If he is to miss our trip to Crystal Palace at the weekend, it does not take much to imagine a recall to the starting XI for Walcott, as he scored with one of his two shots on Sunday.