Liverpool suffer injury during Champions League win against Lille, as Reds manager Arne Slot opens up to hectic fixture schedule

Arne Slot confirmed that one of his Liverpool players had to be substituted due to injury on Tuesday night.

The Reds took a big step towards the top of the Champions League group stage after winning 2-1 against French side Lille at Anfield.

Mohamed Salah opened the scoring for the Reds with a trademark finish in the first half, separating himself from the defense after a magnificent pass from Curtis Jones.

Lille, who were reduced to 10 men after Aissa Mandi received a second yellow card for his late challenge on Luis Diaz, earned a shock equalizer just after the hour mark, restoring hope to the French side, who had been unbeaten for 21 matches before the start of the match. the crash on Merseyside.

But thanks to a bit of good luck, Harvey Elliott's deflected long-range shot just five minutes later put Liverpool back in front, taking their Champions League points tally to 21 after seven games in the group stage.

However, Slot revealed that Jones had to be substituted at half-time after suffering an injury in the first half, joining Joe Gomez and Diogo Jota on the list of Liverpool players currently sidelined.

Curtis Jones was forced off with an injury in Liverpool's 2-1 win over Lille on Tuesday night.

Arne Slot confirmed that the midfielder wanted to continue but could not play

Jones assisted Mohamed Salah's first goal and dedicated his celebration to the Egyptian star

“Yes, the idea was to bring Dom (Szoboszlai) and Ryan (Gravenberch) out at half-time, but unfortunately Curtis couldn't continue, so Dom stayed a little longer,” he said.

“There was a moment in the game (when) he said, 'Let's play five more minutes and then see what it's like.'” But he said he had to come off at halftime.

Slot went on to point out that victory against Lille was vital to the Reds' hopes of finishing in the top eight of the Champions League table and securing automatic qualification for the last 16, which is why he wanted to field an eleven. strong.

However, with Jones' injury, his hand was forced to give more minutes to other midfielders.

“We wanted to win this game, but we were also aware that we had to manage the loads,” Slot added.

“We would have been very, very, very unlucky if we had lost twice and still not been in the top eight.” As we know now, I think 18 points would have been enough to be in the top eight. But with 21 there is no discussion.”

He went on to reveal that he planned to play Conor Bradley for the full 90 minutes, who returned to the starting eleven after a time out due to injury.

Bradley was replaced in the 86th minute by Trent Alexander-Arnold, which Slot said was simply a precaution, as Liverpool prepare for a busy schedule ahead.

Slot revealed that he was forced to change his game plans to manage his team's injury problems.

Liverpool lead the Champions League standings with 21 points, three points ahead of Barcelona.

“Conor, the idea was to play 90, but in the end you could see that it was becoming more and more difficult for him in terms of loads,” he said.

“So you don't want to run the risk of him getting injured in the last few minutes like he did against us.”

The Dutch team has two more games left to play this month and seven more in February alone.

They remain in all four competitions, as they chase silverware and look to cap a fairytale first year on Merseyside for Slot.