Manager has only 16 first team players available for the rest of the season
Liverpool boss Arne Slot is content with the players at his disposal but cannot afford to lose anyone else to injury.
The Premier League champions have struggled with injury problems this season. Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley have been ruled out of season. Alexander Isak is out for months with a fractured leg, and Jeremie Frimpong is also sidelined with a hip injury.
Joe Gomez was forced off against Bournemouth and missed two games, but could make the bench against Manchester City on Sunday. That still leaves Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate as the only fully fit centre-backs.
Liverpool agreed a deal for 20-year-old defender Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes in January, but he will not join until the summer.
“I’m very happy with the squad, let that be clear,” Slot said. “But it’s obvious we have three long-term injuries. That’s why we tried to strengthen in the winter break but unfortunately the player wasn’t available.
“I think there’s more to come from this group of players for obvious reasons. Some reasons I probably blame myself for a bit, but some things I cannot do anything about: injuries, a player not ready to play three games a week. But it’s clear if we have an injury crisis, even more than we already have, then that makes things even more difficult. We have 16 players available and Trey [Nyoni] and Rio [Ngumoha] are two of them.
“This squad is able to do better and more than we’ve done until now, in my opinion, but then they all need to stay available. That’s going to be a hell of a challenge because we have three games in seven days coming up.”
