Arne Slot admits Liverpool have a 'bit of a worry' and names player who definitely will not play 90 minutes

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Liverpool will be missing six players against Newcastle United.

Arne Slot has admitted that Liverpool’s defensive injuries are ‘not ideal’.

The Reds make the trip to Newcastle United this evening without full-backs Conor Bradley (hamstring) and Kostas Tsimikas (ankle) and centre-half Ibrahima Konate (knee). The trio will also be absent for the Merseyside derby against Everton on Saturday.

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It means that Liverpool, who top the Premier League table by nine points, have just five senior options fit. What’s more, Trent Alexander-Arnold has only recently recovered from a hamstring problem and will not be able to complete 90 minutes in both upcoming games this week.

And while Slot admits his lack of options is somewhat worrying, he has backed his troops to remain unscathed during the upcoming busy period. Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the Anfield head coach said: “To go into the month with only five defenders is not ideal, but it's part of everyone's season and we played just as many games in October [and will] in January.

“Whenever you have got some injuries in a certain line, it is always a bit of a worry, but I trust the players we have now that they do everything they can to stay fit and we have to take smart decisions in this as well to keep them available for this month. If you face the likes of the clubs I just said, you cannot have a month where you don't get the results because they will be back.

“It depends always on the result if people judge it as smart. We have to be creative, maybe that's a better word to use, for the moment that we cannot use Trent [Alexander-Arnold]. So, last weekend against City, we didn't think it was smart to play Trent for 90 minutes after his injury.

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“That's probably going to be the same tomorrow and on Saturday as well, so then we have to be creative – and for me Jarell [Quansah] playing over there is not so creative [because] he is able to play there. Maybe for whatever reason, if we need Jarell as a centre-back because if one of the centre-backs cannot continue the game, then we need to be even more creative. If it works out, you will probably call it smart and if it doesn't it's one of the stupidest things I've done until now!”

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