Giovanni Leoni suffered an injury blow during on his debut in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Southampton in the Carabao Cup third round.

Giovanni Leoni will face further assessment to determine the extent of his Liverpool injury.

The centre-back suffered a cruel blow on his Reds debut in the 2-1 Carabao Cup victory over Southampton at Anfield on Tuesday night. Leoni was handed his Liverpool bow after being signed from Parma for £26 million in the summer transfer window.

Aged just 18, the Italian delivered an impressive performance that exuded confidence against Southampton. However, in the closing stages of the third-round tie, Leoni went down injured and required lengthy treatment before he was stretchered down the tunnel.

What’s been said

Reds head coach Arne Slot confessed that Leoni’s reaction to his setback suggests that it is a serious problem. "Of course, he is down because for him it didn't feel good immediately, but this is something now we have to assess," Slot said at his post-match press conference.

"Normally these things don't happen in five to 10 minutes and you have to wait for tomorrow to see how he comes in and then maybe do an MRI scan to know more about how serious it is. Normally the emotions of a player tell you a lot.”

Injury analysis

It appears that Leoni will almost certainly be sidelined for a period. And according to an injury expert, there is a chance that the teenager might not play again this campaign. On X, the account @physioscout provides football injury analysis from a sports-science perspective. and has delivered a verdict on Leoni’s issue.

It is suggested that Leoni may have ruptured his ACL given that Liverpool’s medical team put the defender in a position to carry out a Lachman test. That means Leoni could be on the treatment table for at least nine months.

A post on X said: “Extremely limited video makes this harder to judge, but I'd be worried that his knee falls into a valgus position in this screenshot. Non-contact nature, knee collapsing in and pivoting nature make me suspicious of an ACL injury. However, this is harder to call due to the live broadcast not showing a clearer replay of it.

“Potential recovery time: If ACL: 9+ months. If meniscus: ~3-4 months (varies). If bone/bruise: <1 week. Physios seemed to have readied Leoni in a position to do a Lachman's test - to test for an ACL rupture. Scans will be needed to determine the extent of the injury.”

The report added: “There is hope that it can just be a patella/kneecap dislocation that would result in a 3-6 week recovery (best case), or surgery would delay that to a 3+ month recovery.”