Alexander Isak and Virgil van Dijk respond to 'difficult' injury news coming out of Liverpool
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Giovanni Leoni suffered an ACL injury on his Liverpool debut and will be out for several months.
The Reds made it through the EFL Cup third round in the week after beating Southampton 2-1, but much bigger things happened on the pitch.
Arne Slot used this game to heavily rotate his side and made 11 changes from the one that beat Everton last weekend, with one of these being Leoni for his debut.
The Italian defender impressed throughout but his brilliant performance was cut short after an awkward landing, with the centre-back having to leave the field on a stretcher.
It has now been confirmed that the 18-year-old suffered an ACL injury, meaning he will likely miss the majority of the season, so you can only imagine what he is going through right now.
The footballing world has come together to support him, though, with the likes of Alexander Isak and Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali rallying around him.
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It was the worst possible end to a very special occasion for Leoni, with the whole Anfield crowd, as well as those watching on from afar, left very impressed with what they were seeing.
They will have to wait a long time to see him again, however, but if he comes back and plays how he did on Tuesday, then he certainly has a bright Liverpool career ahead.
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On Wednesday night, he posted on social media to give fans an update, with the young defender thanking everyone for their support and promising to come back as soon as possible.
Many of the footballing world reacted to this, with the likes of Isak and Tonali reacting with the red love heart and muscle emojis.
READ MORE: Who is Liverpool’s fourth choice centre-back now Giovanni Leoni is out injured
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Florian Wirtz also wrote a fitting message, saying: “You’ll come back stronger!” followed by a 100 emoji and another red love heart.
Other footballers who left a comment were Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Ibrahima Konate and many, many more.
It will certainly be a tough time for Leoni right now, but with the support of his teammates and backroom staff, his long road to recovery starts now.
Of course, this is just a freak accident and it is nobody’s ‘fault’ whatsoever, but it does have huge implications for the rest of Liverpool’s season.
ACL injuries usually rule a player out for almost the entire season, as seen with the likes of van Dijk and Rodri in recent years, meaning that if the Italian does play again, it will likely be in the final few months of the season.
With that said, that leaves the Reds with just three first-team centre-back options at the club, with Joe Gomez the only back-up to van Dijk and Konate.
This means a younger player will have to step up, such as Rhys Williams again like he did in the 2020/21 season, or players like Wataru Endo will have to play out of position to fill in.
The main thing for Liverpool now is to try and get through to January without it affecting them too much, and it would not be a surprise to see them sign try and sign another defender when that transfer window opens.