Arne Slot gives injury update on devastated Liverpool star - 'It didn't feel good'

Arne Slot offered a pessimistic assessment of Giovanni Leoni after the Italian defender was stretchered off during his Liverpool debut.

The 18-year-old had put in an outstanding performance at the centre of the Reds' defence in the Carabao Cup encounter against Southampton. However, after tumbling awkwardly whilst competing for possession close to the sideline, he collapsed to the ground in clear distress.

Following an extended stoppage, the ex-Parma centre-back, who received his maiden senior Italy call-up during the recent international window, was carried from the pitch on a stretcher and substituted by Milos Kerkez. During his post-match media briefing, Reds boss Slot revealed: "He's down because for him it didn't feel good immediately.

"But this is something now we have to assess and normally these things don't happen in five to 10 minutes, you have to wait until tomorrow to see how he comes in and then maybe do an MRI scan to know more.

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"Normally the emotions of a player tell you a lot, I saw a player in the Dutch Eredivisie at the weekend who went out completely in tears and it proved to be that he was right (that he had suffered a bad injury), but let's hope for the best."

When questioned about whether Leoni had damaged his knee, Slot responded: "It's not his shoulder."

The teenager's injury cast a shadow over an evening when Liverpool booked their place in the Carabao Cup fourth round with a 2-1 triumph courtesy of Alexander Isak's first goal for the club and a late effort from Hugo Ekitike, who received his marching orders for a second booking after whipping off his shirt in celebration.

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Reflecting on his team's showing, Slot admitted: "Not our best performance. You can expect that if you play a complete new team. So many players that haven't played for a long time.

"There were positives, Giorgi Mamardashvili had a good game, Federico Chiesa and Giovanni Leoni had a good game. A first goal for Alexander and another from Hugo.

"Positives from the game but how we played as a team - not taking anything away from Southampton because they played well - it wasn't our best performance."

The Reds return to Premier League duty on Saturday when they travel to Crystal Palace, who remain the only other top-flight outfit alongside the reigning champions yet to taste defeat this campaign.

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