Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola before Champions League tie with LASK
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola before Champions League tie with LASK
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola has his fair share of injury issues right now, and the Spaniard has confirmed a further blow ahead of the trip to Brentford this weekend.
Iraola currently has six injury worries in his Liverpool squad, which has led him to fielding an inexperienced forward line in the club's previous two matches against Manchester City and LASK.
21-year-old Lewis Koumas started both matches in the centre-forward position after Alexander Isak joined long-term absentee Hugo Ekitike on the sidelines, having picked up an issue while representing Sweden during the extended international break.
Cody Gakpo is also missing after picking up an injury while playing for the Netherlands, with 18-year-old Rio Ngumoha starting in Austria on Wednesday night.
Elsewhere, key midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has missed the last two matches with a thigh issue, and the Hungary international is a big miss considering Ryan Gravenberch was sent off against City and is banned for the clash against the Bees on Saturday.
If Szoboszlai can't make the visit to London then Trey Nyoni proved again on Wednesday night that he is more than capable of filling in alongside Alexis Mac Allister.
Right-back Conor Bradley is expected back next month following a knee injury, and will provide some much-needed competition for Ronald Araujo and Jeremie Frimpong in the full-back position.
Meanwhile, Iraola had been hoping to have Giovanni Leoni back on the grass during the international break following more than one year on the sidelines, but the Italian has suffered a setback which means he won't be back until after the next international break, at the earliest.
Speaking about the 19-year-old, the former Bournemouth boss said:
It's taking more time than we wanted. With Leo, the plan was to train in the international break but it will be the next one, so we have lost one month of progress.
"It was not just an ACL, it was a bad injury, a lot of areas around the knee. That process has to be very careful and we want to be careful when he returns to the team he stays in a good place.
"So the plan now is he starts in the next break. Later than we expected."
Another Blow for Liverpool and Leoni
giovanni leoni liverpool
giovanni leoni liverpool
Liverpool believed they signed the future of their central defence when Leoni joined in a £26m deal from Parma last summer, but his Anfield career took an early disastrous turn when he tore his ACL in his first appearance for the club against Southampton.
The teenager has been on the sidelines ever since and there was clearly hope that he would be back on the pitch by now.
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Leoni vs Southampton
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Duels won
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Fortunately for the Reds, they do have centre-back options with another new signing in Jeremy Jacquet impressing alongside captain Virgil van Dijk in recent weeks, and Ronald Araujo and Joe Gomez as back-up.
Leoni will surely be frustrated at the way Jacquet has established himself as a starter at 21 years of age, as he will feel he could have done the same had it not been for the injury.
Jacquet and Leoni could well be the long-term centre-back partnership at the heart of the Merseyside outfit's defence, but Liverpool and Iraola must also be patient and sensible with integrating him again once he is fully fit.
New Liverpool sporting director Julian Ward at Anfield
New Liverpool sporting director Julian Ward at Anfield