Liverpool are dealt fresh injury blow to Arne Slot’s frontline ahead of Brentford trip

Diogo Jota is a fresh fitness doubt for Liverpool’s trip to Brentford in what would be a blow for the Portuguese forward after his substitute goal against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

The striker, 28, missed just shy of two months with a chest injury recently and has featured off the bench in the Reds’ last six league fixtures but his only start came against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup.

And Jota, who scored with his first touch as a substitute at Forest in the 1-1 draw, has now suffered another setback with Arne Slot admitting it will be a ‘struggle’ for him to feature on the tricky trip to west London on Saturday.

‘There’s no doubt about the fact that Jota is an important player for us,’ said the boss on Friday morning. ‘He was not in training yesterday [Thursday] so we have to see where he is today.

‘I am not sure that he will be available for tomorrow. We have to wait and see. He felt a little niggle during the half-hour he was on (against Forest), he could finish the game but afterwards he complained a bit about it.

‘That’s why he didn’t train on Thursday. We have to see if he is available today and tomorrow. It will be a struggle to have him on the pitch tomorrow but we are hoping to see him in the near future.’

Reds boss Arne Slot revealed that Jota didn’t train with the rest of the squad on Thursday

Jota rescued Liverpool a midweek draw against Nottingham Forest after scoring off the bench

The Premier League leaders are also not guaranteed to have fellow forward Luis Diaz in their ranks after the Colombian reported a sore throat and illness this week, also skipping training on Thursday. 

As things stand, though, Diaz would be expected to recover and travel to Brentford.

Given Jota’s injury record and Darwin Nunez’s lack of form, Slot and Co have not made a full decision on whether fellow striker Jayden Danns will go out on loan this month.

Several Championship clubs are keeping an eye on the 19-year-old.