Liverpool were dealt a huge injury concern as Victor Munoz sat out of their 4-3 win over Villarreal in the Champions League. The Spaniard joined Dominik Szoboszlai, Jeremie Frimpong, Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni on the sidelines.
The Reds found themselves 2-0 down at Anfield in a shock scenario, but they roared back to claim all three points against their tricky Spanish opposition, as Rio Ngumoha starred off the right in Munoz’s absence.
Victor Munoz ruled out with knee problem
The latest injury worry, Spanish winger Munoz was missing from the squad that faced Villarreal. He was ruled out with a knee problem, was not spotted arriving at the team hotel on Tuesday ahead of the match, and he was not involved in the matchday cohort either.
It remains to be seen how long the forward will be out for, but with others also out in forward areas, Munoz’s absence will be felt. Potential return date: October 25 vs Brighton (H).
Szoboszlai and Frimpong sidelined
Szoboszlai has been hampered by a hamstring injury which saw him miss the defeat by Manchester City, the win over LASK and then the Villarreal game. He had returned to the starting XI against Brentford, however, in a major boost for his club, but he was forced off again just half an hour in.
Afterwards, Iraola admitted that the Hungarian’s pre-existing problem had flared up. “He has tried, he has trained the last days, but we didn't know the minutes he'd have. It's not another injury, he's still not healed.” He seems set for a lengthy spell on the touchlines. Potential return date: Unknown.
Dutch defender Frimpong was another that was forced off in west London, as he hobbled off after just six minutes of his substitute appearance. The right-back went down holding his leg, and Iraola said that the former Celtic and Bayer Leverkusen man would be out “for some time”. Potential return date: Unknown.
Ekitike and Bradley on the comeback trail
Ekitike is on the comeback trail from rupturing his Achilles at the end of last season. The Frenchman is thought to be progressing well in his road to recovery, but he has not returned to team training quite yet.
Along with confirming that Conor Bradley was closing in on a return to partial training in the coming weeks, Iraola said: “They are both doing very well. Hugo is a little bit behind that but that was always the plan. He is still doing very well according to the plan.” Potential return date: December.
Northern Ireland international Bradley is the closest Liverpool player to a comeback. He suffered a bad knee injury at Arsenal back in January which killed the rest of his campaign, and he has been sidelined ever since. Iraola confirmed he will return to partial team training soon.
“[He is] doing very well,” the head coach said. “I think [he is] in a good place. Conor is not so far from training with the group – not like full training but doing some things with the group. I think Conor is not very far from starting doing things with us.” Potential return date: November.
Leoni still recovering from ACL tear
Leoni is still recovering from his ACL tear on his debut for Liverpool against Southampton in the League Cup over a year ago. “It’s taking more time than we wanted,” Iraola said of Leoni’s recovery. “The planning was to train with the team in this past international break [but] probably it’s going to be in the next international break, so we’ve lost one month in the process.”
“Giovanni’s injury, I wasn’t here but talking to the medical department, it was not just an ACL – it was a bad injury, a lot of things around the knee were involved apart from the ACL.” Potential return date: December.
