Liverpool news: Szoboszlai scare, Van Dijk talks and a steady eye on the future

Dominik Szoboszlai came off the pitch at Selhurst Park with a sprained knee, and the concern has travelled quickly.

Hungary's federation has issued its own update, confirming he is going through medical tests before two Nations League fixtures, and Andoni Iraola was already unsure after Sunday whether the 26-year-old would be available.

Liverpool won that Palace game 3-1, so the result is secure, but a midfielder who has been central to how this side plays is not easily covered. The club and country are now sharing the same waiting room, and the verdict will shape Iraola's plans for the next stretch of the season.

Alisson Becker and Florian Wirtz were voted into the Premier League Fan Team of the Week on the back of the Palace win, and both had a case for something more than a fan vote. Wirtz in particular is starting to look like the player Anfield expected when he arrived.

Off the pitch, Virgil van Dijk organised a squad visit to the LFC Museum last week, with the players taking a team photograph on the Kop. It was framed as a history lesson for the newer arrivals, and you suspect it did more for the dressing room than a video session would.

Alisson, Conor Bradley and Milos Kerkez also turned up in a UPS partner challenge, which is the kind of week it has been: results, contracts, and a few cameras.

Two of the most decorated players of the modern era are out of contract at the end of 2026/27 and no agreement is in place. Lewis Steele has given the clearest read yet on Van Dijk, suggesting the captain has every chance of signing on, and one insider echoed that the probability is good.

Van Dijk himself looked relaxed when asked after the Palace game. Alisson is a separate question, and the uncomfortable truth doing the rounds is that this squad is not built for life after either of them.

Supporters are being polled on whether both should get new terms, which tells you how much of the fanbase is split. Sporting director Julian Ward has the decision to make, and doing nothing is itself a decision.

Rio Ngumoha is the name Bayern Munich want, and the Bavarians are said to believe a deal is there to be done after probing in the summer. Lewis Steele is not convinced it happens, expecting the young winger to sign a new long-term deal at Anfield instead.

That is the more sensible reading: Ngumoha is 18 and the pathway is real. Jeremie Frimpong is a different case.

A transfer insider says Liverpool would be open to selling the Dutchman for the right price in 2027, with Saudi interest reported, and a spell at Anfield that began with a Community Shield goal on debut has since been interrupted by injuries.

One insider also reports the club is ready to call a Richard Hughes signing a failure and look elsewhere, while the scouting department keeps its eye on a €25m target also wanted by Barcelona and a Brazilian teenager with PSG sniffing around.

The EFL Trophy trip to Huddersfield Town ended in a 4-0 defeat to the League One leaders on Tuesday evening, and Ian Doyle's ratings were not kind. Two first-team squad members started, which makes the margin harder to explain away, and the senior bodies did not drag the younger ones through it.

Vaclav Hladky, whose penalty save had kept the scoreline respectable in the first half, could do little about the rest. The competition has been a useful stage for Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha this season, so a night like this is part of the education. Iraola will want it to be a lesson rather than a habit.

Victor Munoz has won Liverpool's Goal of the Month award for October, a small sign that the summer arrival is settling. For a forward in his first season at Anfield, a club award in the autumn is worth more than the trophy itself, and his finishing has been one of the quieter positives of Iraola's start.

The squad's attacking depth is beginning to look genuinely deep, with Munoz, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak all competing for the same areas. He will want to turn the recognition into a starting run.