Liverpool handed MAJOR Diogo Jota injury UPDATE ahead of Arsenal clash

Despite having a hot-and-cold start to the season, Darwin Nuñez picked up the only goal of the game against Leipzig last night.

It will have been a welcome relief for both player and head coach, with rumours of Liverpool actively searching for a replacements in the central attacking role.

Nuñez’s place in the starting XI was necessitated, however, by an injury to starting striker Diogo Jota.

And with Liverpool fans and Arne Slot alike both fearing the worst, Football Insider are reporting that Jota is also set to miss Sunday’s crucial top-of-the-table clash with Arsenal.

The Portuguese international was substituted after just half an hour during Liverpool’s last Premier League outing against Chelsea following a clash with centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo and was seen visibly holding his ribs and wincing in pain.

The same report by Football Insider states that Liverpool’s medical team are assessing to see whether Jota has sustained a rib contusion or a rib fracture.

The contusion would typically only sideline a player for one to two weeks whilst a fracture could see the striker out until after the next international break in late November.

Head coach Arne Slot was typically low-key about the situation ahead of the Champions League clash in Germany last night, saying “It is always so difficult with injuries, especially if it just happens, to see where they are after a few days.”

“He got a knock, like we all saw, when he was trying to go to goal, brought down – that was not the biggest problem – but the other player fell onto him.”

What does this mean for Liverpool vs Arsenal?

The situation will almost definitely require Nuñez to step into the starting role for at least a few games, which has been a rarity so far this season. Last night’s Champions League action was only the Uruguayan’s fourth start all season and him returning a goal will be a welcome sight given Liverpool have to play Aston Villa, Brighton and Bayer Leverkusen after Sunday’s trip to the Emirates.

Arsenal will also be without some of their key stars. Centre-back William Saliba is banned after picking up a red card last weekend, whilst the status of Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber and Martin Ødegaard is up in the air.

It presents an additional interesting wrinkle to what is already shaping up to be one of the most pivotal games of the Premier League season. Liverpool can go seven points clear of last season’s runners-up with a victory.