Liverpool fearing serious Giovanni Leoni injury in cruel blow for Arne Slot

Liverpool's new signing Giovanni Leoni is facing a lengthy spell out of action after suffering a serious knee injury during his debut against Southampton on Tuesday night. The 18-year-old defender, who joined from Parma in a £26m deal in mid-August, was forced off the pitch after 81 minutes.

Leoni had been performing well before he landed awkwardly near the Main Stand, causing visible distress before being stretchered off and replaced by Milos Kerkez for the final moments of the match.

Liverpool are currently not providing an estimated duration for Leoni's absence, with head coach Arne Slot set to provide an update in his Friday morning press conference at the AXA Training Centre.

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However, it's believed that the club's medical staff are concerned about a significant problem for the young Italian, who was making only his 18th senior appearance on Tuesday evening.

This leaves Liverpool with just three senior centre-backs available, with veteran Joe Gomez stepping in as cover for Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk, starting with Saturday's match against Crystal Palace, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Wataru Endo has also previously filled in at centre-back, while midfielder Ryan Gravenberch has been used in this position a few times last season as a last resort.

Liverpool had a £35m deal in place to sign England international Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace on transfer deadline day, but the move fell through when the Eagles failed to secure a replacement for their captain.

In his post-match press conference on Tuesday, Liverpool manager Slot said of Leoni: "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.

"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."

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