Liverpool's injury headache rolls into West London

Andoni Iraola is set to head to the capital with a heavily depleted squad, and the sheer number of absentees on both sides means Saturday's fixture at Brentford could see as many as 14 players missing from action. For Liverpool, it is a situation that has become all too familiar in recent weeks, with a string of injuries continuing to test the depth of the squad at a critical point of the season.

Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo all missed the defeat to Manchester City, and none of them have been ruled out of facing the Bees. Speaking on Thursday, Iraola was candid about the chances of the trio featuring, admitting that his instinct was the match would come too soon, but that he would 'leave the chance open' with a Friday training session still to come. Any one of them returning would represent a significant lift, particularly given that Ryan Gravenberch is suspended after picking up two yellow cards at Anfield on Sunday.

Giovanni Leoni's return pushed back another month

Beyond the short-term fitness doubts, Liverpool's longer-term injury picture remains a concern. Giovanni Leoni had been expected to return to training during the last international break, but the club have had to take a careful approach to his rehabilitation. Iraola was open about the setback, acknowledging that the process has taken longer than planned.

"It's taking more time than we wanted," Iraola said. "The plan was to train with the team in this past international break [but] probably it's going to be in the next [one], so we've lost one month in the process. He has to be very confident; the rehab process has to be very careful with him, and we want to make sure once he comes to the team, he stays in a good place."

Brighter news on Bradley and Ekitike

There was at least some encouragement elsewhere. Both Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitike are said to be progressing well, with Bradley described as not far from returning to some form of group training. Iraola was measured in his assessment but the tone was notably more positive than the updates on others.

"They are both doing very well," Iraola explained. "I think they are in a good place. Conor is not so far from training with the group - not full training but doing some things. It's difficult [to give a timescale] when they've been injured for so long, but I think Conor is not very far from starting doing things with us."

Brentford's own concerns add to the chaos

Brentford caretaker Keith Andrews is dealing with seven fitness concerns of his own ahead of the match. Mikkel Damsgaard, Kevin Schade, Jannik Schuster and Nathan Collins are all in a race against time, with Schuster and Schade having trained on the grass during the week ahead of late fitness tests. Antoni Milambo is working through a small knock suffered on his comeback, while Kaye Furo remains sidelined until the end of next month and Joshua Silva is out until the end of this one with a thigh injury.

With so many players unavailable on both sides, Saturday afternoon is shaping up to be a peculiar kind of fixture. Whether Liverpool's potential returnees can tip the balance remains to be seen, and Friday's training session could prove decisive in deciding exactly who Iraola has at his disposal.