Arne Slot gives injury update on Liverpool star who needs imminent scan

Arne Slot delivered a gloomy assessment of Giovanni Leoni after the Italian defender was stretchered off during his Liverpool debut. The 18-year-old had produced an outstanding performance at the heart of the Reds' defence in the Carabao Cup encounter with Southampton.

However, after tumbling awkwardly whilst competing for the ball close to the touchline, he collapsed to the ground in clear distress. Following a prolonged stoppage, the former 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.

"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 mysteriously responded: "It's not his shoulder."

The young player's injury cast a shadow on an otherwise victorious night for Liverpool, who secured their place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 win, thanks to Alexander Isak's debut goal and a late strike from Hugo Ekitike, who was shown a second yellow card for removing his shirt in celebration.

Reflecting on his team's performance, Slot said: "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.

"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."

Liverpool will be back in Premier League action on Saturday when they travel to Crystal Palace, who, along with the defending champions, are the only teams in the top flight yet to taste defeat this season.