Liverpool midfielder back in training ahead of Aston Villa clash but duo set to miss out | OneFootball

Ryan Gravenberch is in line to return to the Liverpool squad for the game against Aston Villa.

The midfielder has missed the last three games because of an ankle injury but has now returned to training.

“Ryan trained with us for the first time yesterday and will train with us today,” he said. “Then we’re going to make the call if he can start, yes or no.”

But both Alexander Isak and Curtis Jones are set to miss the game through injury, however.

“The other two I’m probably 99.9% sure are not in the squad on Saturday,” Slot added.

The Reds also remain without goalkeeper Alisson, Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni.

Liverpool have been in woeful form of late, losing six of the last seven games in all competitions.

And Slot says his squad’s fitness struggles have been a key factor behind their challenges this campaign.

“We miss nothing, Slot said when asked about his squad depth. “I am happy that you asked this question because I am completely happy with the team and with all the quality that we have and I am also completely convinced by the strategy and the policy that we have.

“But that makes the issue – if you call it an issue – is not all of them have had a proper pre-season or have been injured.

“When three or four are injured you go back to 16 players. I am a firm believer that 20 or 21 players is enough but you have to keep them fit as we did last season.

“We are struggling a bit more to keep them fit, in my opinion, for obvious reasons. Alex [Isak] is a great example of this. A few others have missed out on pre-season or had injuries during pre-season.

“It has been more difficult than last season to keep them all available and if a few of them are not available, it comes down a lot to the same players. Maybe last season we were more lucky and now we are more unlucky.

“But, no excuses for our results before people say this. We have had to play a lot of away games with only two days rest in between and that would have been difficult for our players last season and players that have been fit all pre-season but that has not been our situation.

“It is nothing to do with the squad depth, it is how we’ve gone throughout the season in terms of injuries and availability.”