Liverpool’s injury problems are showing no sign of easing, with Dominik Szoboszlai now looking unlikely to return in time for Wednesday’s Champions League trip to LASK.
The Hungarian midfielder missed Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City after returning from international duty with fatigue and a minor overload issue.
With Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo also sidelined, Andoni Iraola is suddenly dealing with a serious shortage of experienced attacking options.
The timing could hardly be worse, either. Liverpool are entering one of their busiest stretches of the season, with four games packed into just 10 days.
Iraola pessimistic over Szoboszlai return
According to This Is Anfield, Iraola does not expect any of Liverpool’s injured players to recover in time for the trip to Austria.
Explaining Szoboszlai’s situation, the Liverpool boss said:
“Dom came from the national team with tiredness and overload. We put him as a floater in the training session to try to protect him, but he was not feeling okay.
“It is something very small but now we play four games in 10 days, so it’s going to be difficult because now we fly to Austria in two days. I think it’s going to be difficult to recover any of the injured players.”
Isak and Gakpo are also being monitored after returning from international duty with thigh and ankle problems respectively.
Liverpool squad depth is about to face its biggest test
This is exactly the sort of period that exposes whether a squad is genuinely deep enough to compete on multiple fronts.
According to Liverpool’s official fixture list, the Reds face LASK on October 14, Brentford three days later and Villarreal on October 20, before further home games against Brighton and Chelsea later in the month.
That schedule leaves Iraola with almost no recovery time.
Liverpool already looked short of attacking experience against City, and losing Szoboszlai on top of Isak and Gakpo makes the situation even harder.
The positive is that none of the injuries are currently believed to be long-term. But with matches arriving every few days, even minor problems can mean missing several important fixtures.
For Iraola, the challenge now is simple: rotate without allowing Liverpool’s results to suffer.
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Richard Hughes’ incompetence has left an unbalanced and thin squad. Appalling so called Sporting Director. Ward has his work cut out and must be backed by FSG.