Liverpool were besieged by several long-term injuries throughout 2025/26, seeing a 65.9 percent increase in games missed from Arne Slot‘s debut season.
After Liverpool’s season came to a close, Slot posed his own question to close out his media duties, saying:
“If you asked me one word to describe this season, I would describe that with the word ‘injury‘.”
While it cannot be used as an excuse for the capitulation of a season, the Dutchman did have a right to lament his side’s lack of fortune after a steep rise in injuries compared to last season.
In 2024/25, 11 senior players missed at least one game due to injury, combining for 129 games missed, which was a stark improvement on Jurgen Klopp‘s final campaign at the helm (362 matches missed).
This time around, however, Liverpool saw injuries increase by 65.9 percent, with 16 senior players forced to miss at least one game.
With several long-term injuries, the number of combined games missed was 214, with Giovanni Leoni (49) and Conor Bradley (33) topping the list with serious leg/knee issues.
Games Missed: 2025/26
Player Games
Salah/Gakpo/Gravenberch 3
Alexander Isak (28), Wataru Endo (26) and Jeremie Frimpong (20) also missed 20 or more matches throughout the campaign.
A further 21 games were missed by 10 different players due to personal reasons, suspension, illness, or AFCON, while only seven regulars remained fit for the entirety of 2025/26.
Where did Liverpool’s fitness go?
Liverpool’s injuries did endure a steep upward trend this season, and they were struck by a considerable number of long-term issues.
Bradley (knee), Leoni (knee), Endo (ankle), Isak (leg) and Ekitike (Achilles) were all besieged by non-tissue injuries, a fate that befell Frimpong (hamstring) and Alisson (hamstring).
Ruben Peeters, first-team lead physical performance coach, rightly deserved credit for overseeing a positive change last season, but he has come under the microscope this time around.
Liverpool Injury Comparison
2024/25: 11 senior players missed at least 1 game, combined for 129 games missed.
2025/26: 16 players missed at least 1 game, combined for 214 games missed.
Across Slot and Peeters’ three years at Feyenoord, the team’s reported availability levels were above 90 percent, thanks to the focus on periodisation, which carefully manages physical strain and overload with rest and recovery.
That process, however, has come under scrutiny amid the question marks over the team’s fitness and days off, with Liverpool readily looking like a side unable to see out a match.
Across their 57 matches in all competitions, Liverpool conceded 25 times from minute 75 onwards, accounting for 32.47 percent of their total goals conceded (77).
Whether that was the cumulative toll of injuries, the lack of effective rotation and squad use, or a failure of the periodisation model itself, it is clear that positive change is needed again next season.