Arne Slot delivers Liverpool injury update on devastated Giovanni Leoni - 'It didn't feel good'
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Arne Slot delivered a downbeat verdict on Giovanni Leoni after the Italian defender left his Liverpool debut on a stretcher.
The 18-year-old had delivered an impressive display at the heart of the Reds back line in the Carabao Cup clash with Southampton.
But after falling awkwardly when challenging for the ball near the touchline, he dropped to the turf in agony.
After a lengthy delay the former Parma defender, who was called into the senior Italy squad for the first time at the last international break, was taken from the field on a stretcher and replaced by Milos Kerkez.
Speaking at his post-match press conference, Reds head coach Slot said: "He's down because for him it didn't feel good immediately.
"But this is something now we have to assess and normally these things don't happen in five to 10 minutes, you have to wait until tomorrow to see how he comes in and then maybe do an MRI scan to know more.
"Normally the emotions of a player tell you a lot, I saw a player in the Dutch Eredivisie at the weekend who went out completely in tears and it proved to be that he was right (that he had suffered a bad injury), but lets hope for the best."
When pressed on whether or not Leoni had injured his knee, Slot cryptically replied: "It's not his shoulder."
The teenager's injury was a sour note on a night when Liverpool secured passage to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a 2-1 victory thanks to Alexander Isak's first goal for the club and a late strike from Hugo Ekitike, who was given a second yellow card when celebrating after removing his shirt.
Speaking on his side's display, Slot said: "Not our best performance.
You can expect that if you play a complete new team.
"So many players that haven't played for a long time.
"There were positives, Giorgi Mamardashvili had a good game, Federico Chiesa and Giovanni Leoni had a good game.
A first goal for Alexander and another from Hugo.
"Positives from the game but how we played as a team - not taking anything away from Southampton because they played well - it wasn't our best performance."
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The Reds return to Premier League action on Saturday when they head to Crystal Palace, who are the only other club in the top flight along with the defending champions who are yet to lose so far this season.