Arne Slot does not expect Florian Wirtz to miss Liverpool’s next game after pulling out of the 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest with an injury in the warmup.
Wirtz was named as part of Slot’s starting lineup at the City Ground but was forced out of contention minutes before kickoff as Curtis Jones took his place.
The Germany international instead sat behind the bench to watch a gruelling, late 1-0 win for his side, with fears he could join the list of absentees ahead of Saturday’s clash with West Ham.
But speaking in his post-match press conference, Slot insisted the injury was unlikely to be “very serious” and he “hopes and expects” Wirtz to be available next weekend.
What is Florian Wirtz’s injury and will he miss Liverpool vs. West Ham?
“We don’t think it’s very serious, but he felt his back too much during the warmup to start,” the head coach explained.
“He wasn’t able to be 100 percent or even close to 100 percent.
“I think after being in this league for six, seven or eight months he understands that no matter how good you are on the ball, you need to be 100 percent at this level, so we decided not to play him.
“But we hope and expect that he will be able to be with us again next week. But yeah, you never know how things work out.”
Wirtz’s absence was clearly felt as Liverpool struggled to find any fluency against a Forest side who were unchanged from their 3-0 win at Fenerbahce three days previous.
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - Sunday, February 22, 2026: Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike and Alexis Mac Allister celebrate after the FA Premier League match between Nottingham Forest FC and Liverpool FC at the City Ground. The game ended 0-1/ (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
But fortunately the Reds came away with the win as Alexis Mac Allister scored at the second time of asking – his first goal ruled out due to handball but the second, clocked in the seventh minute of added time, deemed legal.
“I love scoring, I love winning,” Mac Allister told Sky Sports after the game.
“So in that sense it’s a really good day, but then on the other hand I don’t think we played very well.
“There’s plenty of things we need to improve, but it’s always nice when you win.”
Liverpool are expecting right-back Jeremie Frimpong back for the visit of West Ham, but Alexander Isak, Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo, Giovanni Leoni, Jayden Danns, James McConnell and Stefan Bajcetic remain out.