Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch has the best chance of being back for the weekend's visit of Aston Villa in the Premier League out of those players currently sidelined, Arne Slot has confirmed.
"Ryan has a good chance [of being back for the weekend]," he said during his post-match press conference after losing 3-0 at home to Crystal Palace in the League Cup. "The other ones, let's wait and see."
Alexander Isak could therefore still be missing for Liverpool, while the likes of Curtis Jones, Jeremie Frimpong and Alisson Becker are also absent at the moment. Giovanni Leoni has a long-term injury issue which he picked up in the last round against Southampton.
Slot made wholesale changes for the cup tie, as he often does, but saw his side crash out. Ismaila Sarr got another two goals against Liverpool with Yeremy Pino adding a third late on.
Defending his team selection, Slot also said that the injuries played a part in his team looking weaker than normal. As well as an inexperienced starting XI, he didn't have any senior stars among the subs.
"I saw Manchester City's starting eleven and they didn't have one starter from the weekend but it felt like their best team," he said.
"That is a bit of an insight. Chelsea can bring Estevao in. After I made two substitutions tonight, we had six teenagers."
Alexander Isak and Jeremie Frimpong
(Image: Getty Images)
Before kick-off, Slot said this was a good chance for his side to get back on track.
"It goes without saying that our recent form has not reached the standards that you expect of us or that we expect of ourselves," he wrote in the matchday program. "This is, of course, a major disappointment, especially given the positive start we made to the season.
"From our perspective, there are no excuses. Yes, we are aware of the reasons and we will discuss them, but the one thing we cannot and will not do is use them as an excuse.
"Our responsibility is to recognize what is happening and put things right. There is no other option.
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"Part of this process involves being hurt. We should be hurt by results like Saturday's when we lost to Brentford, and we should use the feelings this creates to further fuel our motivation.
"Not that anyone could accuse the players of a lack of effort — if anything, the opposite is true — but how we use this effort and desire is what will make the difference.
"Tonight's fixture gives us an opportunity to take a step forward, not just in this competition but also in our season as a whole.
"That it comes against an opponent that continues to prove itself to be very strong means this will be a testing cup tie but, again, this is the kind of challenge that we have to embrace."