Arne Slot says Liverpool have picked up an injury problem before facing Brentford as defender misses training

The Reds have become especially familiar with the London side over the past couple of weeks having sold both Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg to the Bees.

Having already made his Brentford debut, it seems very likely that Carvalho will get a run out at Anfield for the first time as an opposition player on Sunday.

For Van den Berg, his exit may have come a little too late in the day to be ready in time.

Slot had wanted to keep Van den Berg at Liverpool, but the 22-year-old pushed to leave for first-team football. Ironically, an injury issue picked up in training this week may have meant Van den Berg would have been in the matchday squad for the Reds on Sunday.

Jarell Quansah picks up training injury
Van den Berg’s exit leaves Liverpool looking a little light in terms of senior centre-backs this season. It remains to be seen whether they dip into the market.

Last weekend, Slot opted to partner Jarell Quansah with Virgil van Dijk on Liverpool’s opening Premier League fixture of the season.

Things did not go so well for Quansah, though, with the new head coach hauling him off to be replaced by Ibrahima Konate at half-time.

It was a blow for the academy graduate who had been on a smooth path to stardom at Liverpool ever since the start of last season.

Asked how Quansah had reacted to his decision last weekend during his pre-Brentford press conference on Friday, Slot said the 21-year-old had asked to train instead of his usual post-match recovery and had unfortunately picked up an injury.

“I spoke to him after the game, I spoke to him on Sunday and at the end of that conversation he asked if he could train on Sunday, normally he should have done recovery but he wanted to train,” answered the Dutchman.

“Unfortunately, I think it was Tuesday he picked up a bit of an injury, so he couldn’t train on Wednesday.

“Let’s see if he can train today. But he reacted in the way every player should react.”

Ibrahima Konate set for Liverpool start
In some ways, Quansah’s knock has saved Slot from making a really big decision this weekend.

Although the youngster was not perfect against Ipswich, it was perhaps a little harsh of the head coach to take him off in the manner he did.

All eyes would have been on who Slot chose to partner Van Dijk against Brentford, with the possibility that Konate coming in again could be a blow to Quansah’s confidence.

Now, even if Jarell gets back in training on Friday, it gives Slot the perfect excuse to go with Konate anyway.