Two players down, three days to go

Liverpool left Brentford with three points on Saturday, but the victory came at a cost. Both Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong were forced off during the 2-1 win, and the updates from manager Andoni Iraola afterwards made for uneasy reading ahead of a punishing week.

Szoboszlai had returned to the starting line-up having missed two matches earlier in the week, but he lasted just over half an hour at the Gtech Community Stadium before being withdrawn, with Trey Nyoni coming on to replace him. Frimpong, who had come on at half-time for Ronald Araujo, lasted barely seven minutes before pulling up, leaving Iraola to turn to Rio Ngumoha with the Reds trailing 1-0 at the time.

What the manager had to say

Speaking to Sky Sports after the final whistle, Iraola gave an honest assessment of both players. On Szoboszlai, he said: "He has tried, he has trained the last days, but we didn't know the minutes he'd have. It's not another injury. He's still not healed."

The news on Frimpong sounded more concerning. Iraola explained that the Dutch full-back had already shown signs of fatigue in the Champions League in midweek: "He finished cramping the other day in the Champions League so we knew he wouldn't start the game. We were playing against 10 and I thought he was going to give us more going forwards, but he felt straight away something in the muscle."

That distinction matters. Szoboszlai's situation sounds like a manager managing a player back from an existing issue rather than a fresh setback. Frimpong, though, appears to have picked up a muscle problem, which is a different and potentially lengthier concern.

What it means for the fixtures ahead

The timing could hardly be worse. Liverpool have just three days before hosting Villarreal in the Champions League on Tuesday night, and six more fixtures packed into the following 22 days after that. There is very little room to breathe, let alone recover.

Given that Szoboszlai was rushed back and lasted 33 minutes, it would be a significant gamble to throw him in from the start against Villarreal. The hope is that a five-day gap to the following home fixture provides a little more breathing space for him to properly settle. Frimpong is the bigger worry, given his history of hamstring problems last season, and a muscle issue picked up under those circumstances rarely resolves itself in 72 hours.

Iraola is expected to hold a pre-Villarreal press conference on Monday, and that should bring clearer news on both players. Until then, the three points are banked and the fingers are firmly crossed.