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There were very few positives for Liverpool to take from the weekend's defeat to Nottingham Forest, with Arne Slot's men falling to a 3-0 loss on home soil.
But Alisson Becker, at least, did return from injury after missing several games with a hamstring issue. And while Alexander Isak was largely anonymous, he may have benefited physically from the match action as he continues to build up his sharpness.
When it takes on PSV in the Champions League midweek, Liverpool could make a handful of changes. Slot, though, will be limited by the number of players available to him, with several big names currently sidelined.
Both Liverpool full-backs, Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong, are set to be missing for the next few games. They are not expected back for around two or three weeks.
"I don't expect Conor to be part of the upcoming 22 days," Slot said on Friday. "Maybe in the end, but not in the [next] 22 days unless something like a miracle happens, which I don't expect."
He went on to add that Frimpong was looking at a similar timeline for recovery. Dominik Szoboszlai could fill in at full-back in the meantime, but in the Premier League, he is only one booking away from a suspension.
Florian Wirtz is not expected to be out for as long. "He should be able to play after [Nottingham Forest]," Slot said. "It depends on what happens after, but that shouldn't be that long."
He might be able to return for PSV or West Ham United this week. Slot will offer another update on Tuesday, while fans will also be able to spot whether he features in the UEFA-mandated open training session.
The only other player absent at the moment is Giovanni Leoni, who picked up an ACL injury in the League Cup win over Southampton in September and will miss most of the rest of the season, at least.
"He is not in a good place, of course, because he tore his ACL and it means he will be out for a year," Slot said at the time.
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"Being so young and coming to a new country and playing so well in your first game... it's very hard to take the positive side.
"There's never a positive side — but you always try to look at a positive side and that is that he is still so young. He has so many years still to go after he recovers from a terrible injury like that."
After PSV and West Ham this week, Liverpool will host Sunderland in the Premier League and then travel to Leeds United. On paper, this run of fixtures is easier than what came before the international break, though it made a very bad start against Nottingham Forest.
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