Slot confirms Leoni out for ‘around a year’ after tearing ACL on debut

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has confirmed defender Giovanni Leoni will be out for “around a year” after tearing his ACL during the midweek clash against Southampton.

The Reds eased into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, but at a cost to their 18-year-old debutant.

Leoni joined from Parma in the summer and was having an excellent game against the Saints before picking up the injury.

The Premier League champions fought off a host of competition for the Italian’s signature, but are now left with just three senior centre-backs for the upcoming clash away to Crystal Palace.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Slot confirmed the news, saying: “He is not in a good place because he tore his ACL which means he will be out around a year.

“Being so young and coming to a new country and playing so well in your first game, it’s very hard to take the positives.

“There is never a positive side but you try to look at that and that is that he is still so young and he has so many years still go to after he recovers from a terrible injury.”

Isak ready but Slot tight-lipped on Guehi

Despite Leoni’s injury, Slot refused to speak about Marc Guehi once again in his press conference, after missing out on signing the Crystal Palace centre-back on deadline day.

Instead, the England international will line up against the Reds on Saturday at Selhurst Park, a match the head coach hints that Alexander Isak could start with Hugo Ekitike suspended.

He added: “I don’t think one day before we play them, talking about that [Guehi] again – he is a Crystal Palace player and he has been very important for them as long as he has been there.

“We have to prepare for Crystal Palace who are a very good team. I think they haven’t lost 17 games in a row now and he is part of that team.

“They are a difficult team to beat but we are also a difficult team to beat. As we’ve shown when we played against each other because we have beaten them once 1-0 and twice it was a draw.

“We have more than enough options to replace, if needed, a player at the centre-back position.”

On Isak: “He is able to make minutes again but playing 90 depends on the pace and the intensity of the game. It might be a bit too much, not only for that but also for the long-term.

“You can give a player maybe one stupid hit to bring him to 90 but I don’t think it is smart to play him 90 yet.

“He is further into his pre-season now and normally after two or three weeks in a pre-season, players go to 60-70 minutes. Some clubs bring them to 90 but if you look at our pre-season, we mainly bring them to 60 or 70.”