Arne Slot has confirmed that an “exceptional” Liverpool player could now potentially be out until December, meaning he may well miss the home fixture against Manchester City.
Liverpool injury news
The Reds face another huge game this weekend, having enjoyed a memorable couple of matches at Anfield, with the home crowd helping inspire Arne Slot‘s side to back-to-back wins over Brighton and Bayer Leverkusen.
Next up for Liverpool is the visit of Aston Villa on Saturday evening, with Slot well aware of the importance of victory, especially with Manchester City and Arsenal facing taxing Premier League trips to Brighton and Chelsea respectively.
The Reds aren’t without injury problems going into the game, however, even though no fresh issues have been picked up after the midweek action. Alisson has been missing with a hamstring injury since the 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, while Diogo Jota has been nursing a rib problem suffered at home to Chelsea.
The influential Liverpool pair aren’t the only injury victims either, with Harvey Elliott still recovering from a broken foot suffered on England Under-21 duty and Federico Chiesa being handled with care, following a short pre-season. Now, a key update has emerged regarding one of their absent players.
Liverpool’s “exceptional” ace could miss Man City clash
Writing on X on Friday, Pearce shared news from Slot’s press conference, confirming Jota could be back in action for Liverpool later this month. However, that is the best case scenario, and it may be a couple of weeks after the initial injury timeline, which was immediately following the November international fixtures.
Now with no guarantee that Reds supporters will see the Portuguese star in November, the fact he could miss the huge game against title rivals Man City on December 1st is a serious worry. Liverpool’s attack may still have flourished without Jota around, as Luis Diaz showed with a blistering hat-trick against Leverkusen on Tuesday, but having him back in the fold will feel significant.
There arguably isn’t a better finisher at the club, even including the legendary Mohamed Salah, and the striker’s ability to score big goals is priceless. Jurgen Klopp was always aware of what an important figure he was to him: “Exceptional player, exceptional boy. He has everything that a Liverpool player in this squad needs.
“He has the technical skills, he has the physical skills and he is very smart and can learn all the tactical stuff pretty quick. On top of that, he can play all three positions; in a 4-2-3-1 he could play as the 10. So, it is very helpful. “He has the speed, has the desire to finish situations off really good. I think his goalscoring record is pretty impressive.”
The £140,000-a-week Jota can’t afford to be rushed back, though, potentially hampering him later in the campaign, so it is vital that he only returns when he is fully fit, having already missed over 70 Reds games through injury in his career.
Thankfully for Slot, in Diaz, Salah, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez, he has excellent depth in his attack, making it slightly less imperative for the Portugal international to be back quickly.
