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Liverpool came through their 3-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion without any new injuries. Arne Slot has faced a serious defensive injury crisis in recent weeks, sometimes having only one or two fit senior centre-backs and no natural right-back options.
As a result, midfielders Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Wataru Endo have been deployed in defence. Jones and Szoboszlai have delivered with goals against Brighton and Manchester City respectively, but Endo was stretchered off in the 1-0 win over Sunderland last week.
Full-back Jeremie Frimpong has also struggled with injuries since joining Anfield last summer. His latest setback came during the 6-0 Champions League win over Qarabag, when he left the pitch early with a muscle injury.
Slot confirmed after the Manchester City match that Frimpong would miss the Sunderland game, and he has since remained absent, including the cup victory over Brighton. He said: “We knew that when he got injured, it was a few weeks.”
Ahead of Liverpool’s victory over Newcastle United, Arne Slot stated that Jeremie Frimpong’s injury was not as serious as initially feared. “He is out for a few weeks,” the Liverpool boss said at the time. “But [it’s] not as bad as we thought he would be out. It’s something positive from something not so positive.”
According to The Athletic’s Gregg Evans, Liverpool are expected to be without Jeremie Frimpong for another week as he completes the final stages of his recovery from a groin injury.
The 25-year-old right-back has missed the last four games and is likely to remain sidelined for Sunday’s trip to Nottingham Forest. Arne Slot is carefully managing Frimpong’s return after a stop-start season that included two hamstring injuries, and will evaluate his options at right-back in the coming days.
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