Arne Slot provides Alexander Isak injury update amid Liverpool crisis | OneFootball

Arne Slot has provided an injury update on Alexander Isak ahead of Liverpool’s pivotal clash with Aston Villa.

The British-record signing has endured a stuttered start to life on Merseyside, with his pursuit of regaining full match sharpness hampered by a recent groin problem.

The Swede was withdrawn at half-time in Liverpool’s 5-1 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt last week - their only win in their last seven - and Slot has confirmed that the striker will not be available for the visit of Villa on Saturday.

Slot has also ruled out Curtis Jones for this weekend, who was forced off against Brentford with a minor issue, but has revealed Ryan Gravenberch is back in training and could feature.

"Ryan (Gravenberch) trained with us yesterday. The other two (Isak and Jones) didn't yet,” Slot said.

"In the end phase of the injury, things can slow down a bit or things can go faster but Ryan trained with us yesterday and he will train with us today and then we will make the call whether he is able to start.

"The other two are 99.9 percent sure not in the squad on Saturday."

Liverpool were dumped out of the Carabao Cup in midweek, succumbing to a 3-0 loss at the hands of Crystal Palace as Slot fielded an unorthodox starting XI, which included rare starts for third-choice keeper Freddie Woodman and barely-used right-back Calvin Ramsay.

Arne Slot reiterated that he’s happy with Liverpool’s squad depth (Getty Images)

It acted as the sixth loss in a row for Liverpool on English soil, with external scrutiny of Slot intensifying just five months after guiding the Reds to the Premier League title in his debut season.

The Dutchman’s current contract at the Reds is due to expire in 2027 and he was surprised to be asked whether he had entered talks over a new deal.

"This is the last question that I was expecting,” he said.

"My focus is completely on getting Liverpool back to winning ways. That is my first answer and my second answer, contract talks, if they are even there, we never speak about this here.