There is a lot of worrying news on the Liverpool injury front, heading into their next Premier League clash with Crystal Palace on Saturday, as nine players could be out for the showdown with Oliver Glasner’s men through injury.
Desperate to maintain momentum, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot heads into Saturday’s clash hunting for back-to-back wins to tighten Liverpool’s grip on a crucial top-five standing to qualify for next season UEFA Champions League.
With Chelsea’s form falling off a cliff and sacking Liam Rosenior, the Reds are in a prime spot to seal that final Champions League position, but they do have Brighton and Hove Albion breathing down their neck on 50 points.
To push away from the Seagulls, Liverpool will have to get the better of Brighton’s arch rivals in Crystal Palace, but their recent record against the South London side is far from ideal.
Indeed, Liverpool’s last win against the formidable Eagles was back in 2024, with Palace’s last two visits to Anfield ending in a 1-1 draw and a humiliating 3-0 defeat in the EFL Cup earlier in the season.
To make matters worse, ahead of Saturday’s clash, Liverpool have several injury problems bugging them, undermining their chances of getting a result against their bogey team.
Ekitike – Achilles
Unsurprisingly, Hugo Ekitike will be out of action for Liverpool’s clash with Palace, with a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, putting an abrupt end to a very promising debut season on Merseyside.
Ekitike, when fit, had scored 17 goals in total in all competitions, with his debut strike for the Reds coming against Palace, no less, in the Community Shield final where Liverpool lost on penalties.
Endo – Ankle
Another expected absentee is Wataru Endo, who has been completely absent since suffering an ankle injury two months ago, as Liverpool edged over the line to a narrow 1-0 win at Sunderland.
Endo will hope he’s back sooner, rather than later, so he can jet off with his Japanese teammates to the approaching World Cup.
Bradley – Knee
Alongside Endo in the treatment room, Conor Bradley will also be out of action when Palace make the long journey to Anfield on Saturday.
Used as a rotational option by Arne Slot earlier in the campaign, the defender is not expected back anytime soon as he rehabilitates a severe knee ligament issue.
Leoni – ACL
To round off all the long-term absentees, Giovanni Leoni is also on the long road to recovery, alongside Bradley, after only playing 81 minutes for his brand-new club against Southampton earlier in the season.
He is still recovering from a major anterior cruciate ligament tear, with the latest reports suggesting that the unfortunate Italian is back on the grass, with a view to him featuring again in the off-season, during some friendly matches.
Jayden Danns – Hamstring
Jayden Danns is on the mend, too, as he fights back from another setback to his youth development at the Reds.
The Liverpool-born attacker has only been able to feature four times for the U21s this season in Premier League 2 action, with a 29-minute run-out against Manchester City in March, resulting in a hamstring injury occurring.
Slot has spoken glowingly about the 20-year-old, though, as he considers whether he will be a part of his Premier League group in the near future.
Stefan Bajcetic – Hamstring
While Danns is widely known to be a very promising youngster, Stefan Bajectic has faded into the background at Anfield in recent times.
Previously on loan at RB Salzburg and Las Palmas, the Spanish midfielder has featured zero times this season for Liverpool, owing to his own hamstring problems.
Alisson Becker – Hamstring
Alisson is yet another Liverpool player sidelined through a hamstring injury, with talk also now emerging that the long-term Reds number one goalkeeper could be on the move to Juventus when the transfer window reopens.
In his place for the game against Palace will likely be Freddie Woodman, after the 29-year-old was a surprise hero in the Merseyside Derby, when coming on as Liverpool’s forgotten third-choice keeper.
Gomez – Muscle
Joe Gomez being out of action, potentially, doesn’t make Slot’s defensive selections any easier.
After lasting just 21 minutes as a substitute against PSG the same fixture that claimed Ekitike injury woes Gomez was forced off with what has since been confirmed as a muscle issue.
Having missed the action at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, the London-born defender remains a significant doubt for the upcoming clash with Palace.
Mamardashvili – Wound
Lastly, Giorgi Mamardashvili will be out of action for the reigning Premier League champions for the coming weeks, as he suffered a nasty wound against Everton when clattering into Beto and Andy Robertson.
Having to be stretchered off, this is why Woodman had to step up at the last minute, and be a calm pair of gloves on such a big occasion.
Arne Slot holds his pre-match press conference at 9am BST on Friday to preview the Crystal Palace clash. Stay tuned for the latest injury bulletins on Liverpool’s goalkeeping crisis and defensive depth on ReadLiverpoolfc as the Reds aim for back-to-back Premier League wins.
