A blow that goes beyond bad timing

The win at Brentford on Saturday felt like exactly the kind of gritty, character-filled result Liverpool needed. Two-one down at some point and grinding it out, that sort of thing builds belief. But football has a way of attaching a price to moments like that, and this time it came in the shape of two players leaving the pitch worse for wear than when they arrived.

Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong both picked up injuries during the match, and with Liverpool back in action against Villarreal in the Champions League, head coach Andoni Iraola has now shared what supporters were understandably anxious to hear.

What Iraola said on both players

On Frimpong, Iraola was measured but clear. The Dutch right-back sustained what the head coach described as a new muscle injury, remarkably within just two or three minutes of coming on at half-time. "It's difficult to predict and we will have to wait until he recovers," Iraola said, "but it's going to be difficult, I think, before the [November international] break. We will try but it's going to be difficult to have him."

That indication points to Frimpong missing all six of Liverpool's fixtures between now and that international window. Given he came on with the specific intention of making an impact and was forced straight back off, it is a desperately frustrating situation for player and club alike.

On Szoboszlai, the news was slightly more encouraging, though far from straightforward. Iraola confirmed it is not a new injury, rather a continuation of the hamstring problem that kept him out of the previous two matches. "He hasn't worsened the injury but probably we have to be a little bit more patient until he recovers fully," the head coach said. "It's not like something now where he has to wait a lot of time to come back. He is more or less in the same situation he was last week, but we need more patience with him."

The bigger picture at right-back

For Frimpong, this latest setback is another painful chapter in what has been a difficult spell on Merseyside. His first season was hampered by injury, he has found himself behind Ronald Araujo in the pecking order this campaign, and now a new muscle problem has cut short his latest attempt to force his way into contention.

What makes the situation particularly uncomfortable for Liverpool is that Frimpong's absence does not exist in isolation. Conor Bradley is already sidelined with a serious knee injury and is not expected back any time soon, which leaves the right-back position looking stretched. Cover will need to come from somewhere, and how Iraola navigates that with a demanding fixture list ahead is one of the more pressing questions facing the squad right now.

What comes next for Liverpool

The Villarreal match arrives almost immediately, and Liverpool will have to manage without both Szoboszlai and Frimpong for that one. After that comes Brighton, though the gap before that Premier League fixture at least offers Szoboszlai a window to push for involvement if his recovery continues without any further setbacks.

The fixture workload is only going to intensify over the coming weeks, and with the casualty list growing rather than shrinking, the depth of this Liverpool squad is about to face a proper examination.