Liverpool manager Arne Slott has confirmed that Alexander Isak and Curtis Jones will almost certainly be ruled out of this weekend’s Premier League match against Aston Villa. However, there is a glimmer of hope as Ryan Gravenbirch has returned to training and could be back ahead of a crucial week for the team.
Graven Birch has missed the last three games after sustaining an ankle injury in the home game against Manchester United two weeks ago. Isak was also sidelined with a groin injury in the first half of Liverpool’s win over Eintracht Frankfurt, while Jones was off the pitch during last weekend’s Premier League defeat to Brentford.
Despite Isaac and Jones likely being absent for Saturday’s game, Slott remains optimistic about Graven Birch’s potential involvement.
“Ryan trained yesterday, but Isaac and Jones haven’t yet,” he said Friday morning.
“Timescale? As I’ve said many times, things can move slower or faster in the final stages of an injury. Let’s see.”
“Ryan trained yesterday and he trained with us again today. We will decide whether he can start or not. The other two are not in the team 99.9 percent of the time.”
Injured duo Alisson Becker and Jeremy Frimpong remain sidelined, while defender Giovanni Leoni will miss the rest of the season after undergoing ACL surgery.
Following the game against Villa, Liverpool will play Real Madrid at home in the Champions League before facing title favorites Manchester City on Sunday.
Slott made the bold decision to heavily rotate his team following Wednesday’s Carabao Cup fourth-round defeat to Crystal Palace, with key players such as Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai, Conor Bradley, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Kodi Gakpo and Hugo Ekitike absent despite being fit.
However, the Liverpool manager dismissed suggestions that his team lacked depth.
“We have enough to play, but we have to deal with some games. Why did we take the decision not to play seven or eight games,” he explained.
“I’m happy with the team and our quality and I’m satisfied with our strategy and direction. But that’s the problem. Not all of them have had a proper pre-season and they’re not all injured. So if you get three or four injured, you’re back to 15 or 16.”
“We are confident that 20 people is enough, but for obvious reasons we are struggling to keep them healthy.”
