Liverpool are off to a dominant start to their new season as they are unbeaten across competition which includes five out of five wins in the Premier League.
They faced a slight scarce in the Carabao Cup against Southampton when the scored were tied at 1-1 but an 85th minute strike from Hugo Ekitike allowed the Reds to progress to the next round.
However, amidst all the joy of winning a close cup tie, there was a lot of uncertainty around the seriousness of Giovanni Leoni’s injury that he suffered during the game.
The teenage Italian sensation, who moved to Liverpool this summer from Parma had a great debut before he landed awkwardly and was later stretchered out and replaced by Milos Kerkez.
After the game, Slot was in no position to give a proper update about the youngster, but he also feared the worst.
“He is down because, for him, it didn’t feel good immediately. This is something we have to assess,” Slot told at the post-match press conference.
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“Normally these things don’t happen in five or 10 minutes. You have to wait until tomorrow to see how he comes in and maybe do an MRI scan to know more and see how serious it is.
“Normally, the emotions of a player tell you a lot. I saw during the weekend in the Eredivisie that a player went out completely in tears. It proved to be he was right. Let’s hope for the best.”
What did Fabrizio Romano say about Liverpool youngster’s injury?
In less than 24 hours of the game, Fabrizio Romano has reported that the 18-year-old defender has torn his ACL and will be out for of action for several months.
Leoni will reportedly remain on the sidelines for almost nine months and will miss the majority of the current season.
This leaves Liverpool extremely shorthanded in the centre-back position with Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez being the only choices for the spot.
Wataru Endo has been a great makeshift option for Slot in defense, but it remains to be seen how much the Japan international will be used there.
This could force the England champions to splurge some money on a defender in the upcoming January transfer window.
Liverpool had a £35m deal in place for Crystal Palacestar Marc Guehi but the deal fell through as they failed to secure a replacement for their club captain.
Now they find themselves in a precarious situation, especially in defense with Leoni’s reported long-term injury.
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