Injury blow leaves Liverpool short in central defence
Liverpool defender Giovanni Leoni is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after tearing the cruciate ligament in his left knee during his debut against Southampton in the Carabao Cup.
The 18-year-old was signed from Parma for £26m in the summer and was making his first appearance for the club on Tuesday night at Anfield, before being stretchered off.
Manager Arne Slot said that the signs were not encouraging.
“He is down because for him it didn’t feel good immediately, but this is something now we have to assess,” said Slot.
“Normally these things don’t happen in five to 10 minutes and you have to wait for tomorrow to see how he comes in and then maybe do an MRI scan to know more about how serious it is.”
It was later reported by Sky in Italy that the injury is a cruciate ligament tear, which could potentially rule Leoni out for half of the season.
The injury blow leaves Liverpool short in central defence. After Marc Guehi’s proposed move from Crystal Palace collapsed on deadline day, Slot was left with only three senior centre-backs alongside Leoni.
With the Italian now out, Joe Gomez is the only natural centre-back who can replace either Virgil van Dijk or Ibrahima Konate. As Liverpool’s schedule begins to intensify across three competitions, it could add some serious strain on the squad.
