Liverpool have suffered an injury blow ahead of their weekend trip to Manchester United, with Arne Slot confirming the news.
The Reds face a huge test on Sunday afternoon, as they head to Old Trafford looking to make it three wins in a row to start their Premier League season.
While United aren’t necessarily pulling up any trees, trips there are never easy for Liverpool, as they showed last season, failing to win in both the league and the FA Cup.
If injuries hindered the Reds greatly last term, with a string of key players missing for Jurgen Klopp at different times, Slot has largely had an available squad in 2024/25 to date.
One player who missed last Sunday’s 2-0 win at home to Brentford was Curtis Jones, however, with the 23-year-old suffering a groin injury in training.
During his pre-match press conference on Friday, Slot confirmed that Jones is out of the weekend action, with the boyhood Liverpool supporter still not training alongside his teammates.
Our thoughts on Jones missing the trip to United…
This has been a frustrating start to the season for Jones, who has had injury problems in the past and now could do with a long stint without an absence of any kind.
The Englishman’s ability is undeniable, having broken through as a huge talent from the youth team, and Klopp hailed the influence he was enjoying at one stage last season, saying:
“Curtis is in a great moment for us, super important in different departments. He’s a very good player but he is a role model for all our academy guys. Coming up through the academy all our boys are good footballers, they can just play football otherwise they would not go up through all the age groups.”
With Ryan Gravenberch impressing in a double pivot alongside Alexis Mac Allister, and Dominik Szoboszlai also in good form higher up the pitch, the pressure is on for Jones to win his place back in the team when he is available again.
The hope is that he returns to full fitness after the upcoming international break, before finding his best form as the season goes on.