Arne Slot has insisted “privacy” over the nature of Liverpool’s injuries, but revealed when he expects Diogo Jota back from a suspected rib problem.
Jota has been out since the 2-1 win over Chelsea on October 20, with defender Tosin Adarabioyo landing directly on him after a challenge.
The striker is believed to have suffered a rib injury, though the specifics around that issue have not been divulged, with Slot preferring privacy with the health of his players.
Slot did confirm when Jota is due back in contention, however, telling reporters in his pre-Aston Villa press conference that he would be available “one or two weeks” after the upcoming international break.
“We expect him back after the international break – now, ‘after the international break’ is six or seven months to go!” he joked.
“But no, the first weeks after the international break we expect him back.
“I always say, in Holland there is privacy about [injuries], and I don’t know how it is over here but like I just said, he will be back one or two weeks after the international break.”
Jota’s absence has seen Darwin Nunez become Liverpool’s first-choice No. 9, but it has also seen Slot experiment with a number of alternatives.
Most recently that was Luis Diaz, who netted a hat-trick in the 4-0 thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen in midweek having started the game as centre-forward.
Asked how he saw the situation and whether he would continue to chop and change up front, Slot left his answer open-ended.
“When we had Darwin and Diogo available, we always played one of those two,” he explained.
“The moment Diogo was no longer available – and, in my opinion, because we play so many games and Darwin didn’t play in the first games, it was too much for him – that’s why we started to come up with other ideas.
“To be honest I liked especially the last idea, I think every Liverpool supporter did, with Lucho scoring three goals – two as a nine, one as a winger.
“So that’s always interesting to see, but Lucho is also a very good left winger.
“At this moment we’ve got four attackers available for three positions, so we could come up with another again, but if Diogo is back, Darwin is back, then we’ve got two No. 9s available again.
“In the beginning of the season I always chose one of these two.
“But like I said, Lucho did really well and it was even for me maybe a bit of surprise to see how well he did.
“Of course, I played him there for a reason, I expected him to do good, but that he did so well, that was even a surprise for me.”
