Arne Slot admits Liverpool have injury concern for Manchester United fixture

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has acknowledged Curtis Jones is in a race to be fit for their match against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

After being an unused substitute on opening weekend for their 2-1 win at Ipswich Town, Jones was not in the matchday squad to play Brentford because of a minor muscle problem suffered in training. After missing the 2-0 victory at Anfield, there is now a chance that the Liverpool midfielder will also not be available on Sunday.

"It's going to be close," Slot said. "It’s always difficult to see how an injury evolves during the upcoming week."

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"He won't be out for a long time, but it will be close for him to be here next week. But I'm quite sure he will try to do everything to be ready for next week. It's not a big injury."

While Jones has yet to play this season, Wataru Endo featured from the bench late on against Brentford after not doing so at Ipswich after being displaced in the starting XI by Ryan Gravenberch. The Japan international could again play a part at Old Trafford, as Slot is adamant that the defensive midfielder does have a part to play this season.

Addressing why Endo has been out of the side, Slot said: "It's not always about the player himself but the competition he faces. We have many good midfielders and are really pleased with how Wata is training for us, but he has some good competition, and I think you saw today a good performance from all three midfielders.

"It's not always about him; it's also about the others. But he will be important for us during the season as we need all of them.