Diogo Jota faces "months" on the sidelines after damaging his knee in Liverpool's win at Brentford, adding to manager Jurgen Klopp's mounting injury woes as they chase Premier League glory.
Saturday's 4-1 win victory in London on Saturday came at a heavy cost as forward Jota and midfielder Curtis Jones were both forced off in the first half.
Jones left the stadium on crutches after injuring his ankle and Jota departed on a stretcher, while forward Darwin Nunez was also withdrawn with a knock.
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai will be sidelined for Liverpool's home match against struggling Luton at Anfield on Wednesday while Thiago Alcantara and Joel Matip remain out of action.
The latest from the boss on Jones, Jota, Alisson, Alexander-Arnold and Szoboszlai 🗣️
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 20, 2024
Speaking about the injury situation on Tuesday, Klopp, whose team are two points clear of second-placed Arsenal, said the situation was "not great".
"I would like to sit here and say we have absolutely no issues but obviously we have some," the Liverpool boss said on Tuesday.
"So, not available is obviously Ali (Becker). That's a muscle injury where we don't know exactly how long it takes but definitely not for the foreseeable time coming back.
"Then we have Diogo with a knee issue, is ruled out. Curtis, with a bone/ligament issue, ruled out.
"And then we have the others where we will deal with it day by day with muscle things. We will see for tomorrow."
PRAISE FOR PLAYERS
The German did not give an update on Nunez during his pre-match press conference.
When pressed on timeframes for the injuries, Klopp said: "With Diogo, it will obviously take rather months.
"It's with the injuries as well, so like you have important days. So, day five, day 10, they are always important days when you then judge the situation again because nobody reacts in the same way and it depends on the pain level they still have and stuff like this.
"I couldn't give you a timeframe even if I wanted to, so that's just how it is."
Another setback 😣 I will fight to be back as soon as possible 💪🏻 #YNWA pic.twitter.com/pAyYNkPNXP
— Diogo Jota (@DiogoJota18) February 20, 2024
Liverpool, locked in a Premier League title tussle with Arsenal and Manchester City, take on Chelsea in Sunday's League Cup final and are still in the FA Cup and Europa League.
Klopp, in his final season at Anfield, praised his squad players for stepping up when required.
"We are where we are because of them," he said. "That's how it is, because the boys really delivered. We will see how many of them we will have to use and will give the opportunity because in a good moment they all can be in and we have options there, players who have shown already what they can do."