Liverpool fear young defender Giovanni Leoni suffered serious injury on debut | OneFootball

Liverpool face a wait to see if Giovanni Leoni suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury after the Italian defender was stretchered off on his debut.

Manager Arne Slot said he feared the worst for the 18-year-old, who was hurt in the 2-1 Carabao Cup win over Southampton fc at Anfield.

Leoni, who joined Liverpool for £26m from Parma in the summer, is likely to undergo a scan as Liverpool look to discover the full extent of his knee problem.

Slot said: “He is down because, for him, it didn’t feel good immediately. This is something we have to assess. Normally these things don’t happen in five or 10 minutes. You have to wait until tomorrow to see how he comes in and maybe do an MRI scan to know more and see how serious it is.

“Normally, the emotions of a player tell you a lot. I saw during the weekend in the Eredivisie that a player went out completely in tears. It proved to be he was right. Let’s hope for the best.”

If Leoni faces a long time on the sidelines, Liverpool will be down to three senior centre-backs after a deadline-day move for Marc Guehi broke down when Crystal Palace refused to sell the England international.