• Premier League

Liverpool's Johnson set for month out with injury

Mike Whalley | ESPN FC
December 17, 2014
Burley: Pressure piled on Liverpool

Liverpool defender Glen Johnson is facing a month out after tearing a groin muscle during Sunday's 3-0 Premier League defeat at Manchester United.

Johnson limped off midway through the first half at Old Trafford, and could miss the club's entire Christmas and New Year schedule.

Glen Johnson's Liverpool contract expires next summer © Getty Images
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Javier Manquillo is expected to replace him at right-back for Wednesday's League Cup quarter-final at Championship leaders Bournemouth.

Manquillo, signed on a two-year loan from Spanish champions Atletico Madrid in August, has not even made the bench for Liverpool's last three matches, having been taken off for tactical reasons at half-time during the 3-1 league win at Leicester on December 2.

Johnson is out of contract at the end of the season, and revealed in late November that he has still not been offered a new deal.

As things stand, he would be able to sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club in January.

Meanwhile, Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli will not feature against Bournemouth as he has not travelled with the squad.

He was a second-half substitute in Sunday's defeat at Manchester United, where he made his comeback after more than a month on the sidelines with a groin problem.

Balotelli has stayed behind to receive further treatment on the injury at the club's Melwood training ground with a view to him being fit for Sunday's visit of Arsenal.

This article originally appeared on ESPN FC

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