Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has confirmed that Curtis Jones will miss his side’s Premier League clash with Ipswich Town this weekend through injury.
The Reds won 2-1 at home to Lille in the Champions League in midweek, as they kept up their impressive 100% record in the competition this season.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring for Liverpool at Anfield, with Jones providing the assist with an inch-perfect pass from the middle of the park.
The 23-year-old was substituted at half-time, however, having gone down before the break, leading to doubts about his involvement at home to Ipswich on Saturday afternoon, in another important game in the Premier League title race.
Speaking to reporters on Friday morning, Slot confirmed that Jones will miss the weekend action, and could also be out of the two games after that, away to PSV Eindhoven and Bournemouth:
“Mostly not a good sign. He won’t be available tomorrow and we will have to wait and see. Not expecting months but let’s see for PSV and Bournemouth.”
Our thoughts on Jones’ latest injury setback…
This is another hugely frustrating blow for Jones, with injury problems holding him back too often down the years, stunting his growth in the process.
The midfielder doesn’t necessarily pick up serious issues, but instead, niggling problems can keep him sidelined for weeks at a time, often for longer than expected.
While Jones isn’t a definite starter for Liverpool – Dominik Szoboszlai is arguably first choice in the No.10 role – getting back as soon as possible is vital, with Aaron Ramsey describing him as “brilliant” and Jurgen Klopp once saying of him:
“Unbelievable player. Scouser, very confident! He can’t wait to play in the first team, and he will be a Liverpool player if nothing strange happens, 100%.”
Still only 23, it would be wrong to get overly concerned about Jones’ injuries, particularly as he hasn’t suffered a major blow in his career to date, but he needs to start enjoying more sustained periods of availability.
Being brutally honest, the boyhood Liverpool fan is never going to be able to nail down a regular starting berth at Anfield if he finds himself injured sporadically season in, season out.
