Before Sunday’s pivotal matchup with Manchester City, supporters of Liverpool have observed that one important player has vanished from view.

Sunday’s encounter between Liverpool and City at Anfield is likely to be the most important of the Premier League season thus far.

Liverpool is presently one point ahead of City at the top of the standings in their three-way title battle with Arsenal.

With a victory, Pep Guardiola’s triple champions will take control of the title race, while Jurgen Klopp’s team will put four points between them and the visitors.

The injury problems that Liverpool has been dealing with lately have been a major storyline in the lead-up to the game.

Dominik Szoboszlai, Darwin Nunez, and Mohamed Salah have all missed recent pivotal games, but all three should play at Anfield.

It was hoped that Ibrahima Konate would recover in time for Sunday, but players like Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, and Alisson Becker were never going to get better in time.

When Liverpool defeated Sparta Prague in the Europa League on Thursday, the French centre defender was substituted, but Klopp was certain he would be alright.

Liverpool players on their pre game walk 🚶

Can you spot who's missing 😞pic.twitter.com/UfQLp7c9zd

— Anything Liverpool (@AnythingLFC_) March 10, 2024

That doesn’t seem to be the case, though, as the defender skipped Liverpool’s Sunday afternoon pre-game walk.

It’s reasonable to conclude that Konate’s disappearance has alarmed fans on X.

Konate isn’t present. In response to a video of the squad strolling, one fan wrote, “Wish him all the best,” while another remarked, “Konate – please tell me he just didn’t want to walk.”

Some fans were frustrated that the defender was risked on Thursday during a match Liverpool won 5-1.

“My head’s actually boiling since Thursday night thinking why we even played Konate in the second half. Should’ve subbed him off at halftime. The injury luck we’ve had is a disgrace,” one angry supporter complained.