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Liverpool's 2-1 victory over Southampton was overshadowed by the injury suffered by Giovanni Leoni.
The Italian, who was signed by the Reds for £26million last month, was making his club debut in the Carabao Cup third-round clash on Tuesday. In what was an impressive performance by the 18-year-old defender, his night came to an unfortunate end after a clash with a Saints player saw him take a brutal fall off the pitch.
The teenager was stretchered off with his left knee being put in a brace. With Crystal Palace awaiting the Premier League champions on Saturday, Slot loses key depth in the cengdf back positions but it's not yet known how much time the Italian is set to spend on the sidelines.
After the match, the Reds boss said: "Of course, he is down because for him it didn’t feel good immediately, but this is something now we have to assess. Normally, these things don’t happen in five to 10 minutes, and you have to wait for tomorrow to see how he comes in and then maybe do an MRI scan to know more about how serious it is.
"Normally, the emotions of a player tell you a lot. I saw during the weekend a player in the Dutch Eredivisie who went out completely in tears — Ruben van Bommel, by the way, of PSV — and a day later it proved to be that it was right. Let’s hope for the best."
It's on Friday morning when the 47-year-old will address the media and offer the latest news on Leoni's injury as well as further updates on the rest of his squad.
With games across several competitions now ramping up, Slot will need his squad to remain fit and available, with the latter not applying to Hugo Ekitike who is suspended for the trip to Selhurst Park after picking a red card in the win against the Saints.
Already having being shown a yellow card, the Frenchman took off his shirt after scoring the winning goal, leaving the referee to show him a second booking with Ekitike now having to serve a one-match ban.
His absence will almost certainly see Alexander Isak start the away trip but with the Swede in the process of improving his match fitness, it's unlikely he'll play the full game. The 26-year-old, who scored his first goal for the club on Tuesday, hinted that while he may not be ready to play 90 minutes, he's certainly nearing that direction.
"I feel good," Isak said after full-time. "Every game I play is very helpful and gets me in better shape, so hopefully I’m just getting more and more ready. It’s difficult to say [how close to 100% he is], I think it’s a mixture of fitness wise and football wise, but I feel good, I feel like I’m in a shape to at least make a difference."
Aside from the disheartening end to Leoni's Liverpool debut, Slot was able to add valuable minutes in the tank of several players who recently returned from injury. Jeremie Frimpong, who missed last month's games against Arsenal and Newcastle, earned his first domestic start since the opening day victory against Bournemouth.
After missing clashes against Burnley and Atletico Madrid with a muscle issue, Curtis Jones played 57 minutes against the Saints after a positive cameo last week against Everton.
It was a long-awaited return to donning red for Jayden Danns who last played for Liverpool in January when starting against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League. The 19-year-old played 19 minutes against the Saints, the club he scored the first two goals of his career against last year.
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