Jones lasted just over half an hour before landing awkwardly, with Ryan Gravenberch brought on in his place. Jota then made a vital contribution to set up Darwin Nunez for a fine finish to put Liverpool 1-0 up. But he was crunched minutes later by a combination of team-mate Alexis Mac Allister and Brenford’s Christian Norgaard and stayed down after a worrying-looking knee injury. The Liverpool forward had to be stretchered off as Salah made an unexpectedly early introduction at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The double injury is a hammer blow for Jurgen Klopp. Liverpool are already without Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson, Thiago Alcantara, Dominik Szoboszlai and Stefan Bajcetic, among others, and would likely have been planning not to re-introduce Salah so early on Saturday. Klopp now faces an anxious wait on Jota’s condition – as that looked particularly serious – as he enters an injury crisis at the worst possible moment of the campaign.
