Wirtz, Szoboszlai, Munoz, Frimpong - Liverpool injury news and return dates ahead of Chelsea

The latest Liverpool injury and team news ahead of the League Cup clash with Chelsea on Wednesday

Liverpool will look to progress to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals when they welcome Chelsea to Anfield on Wednesday night. But once again, Andoni Iraola will have to make do without a number of senior players due to injury.

The Reds saw Florian Wirtz limp off in Sunday's Premier League victory over Brighton & Hove Albion to add to their list of absentees. And while Iraola was always likely to rotate against Xabi Alonso's side, his options are further limited as a result.

Liverpool will inevitably have one eye on their clash with reigning Premier League champions Arsenal next weekend, to throw a further spanner into the works as their Basque head coach considers just how a strong a side to select against Chelsea.

And while the Londoners could face a tricky league return themselves, with an out-of-sorts Manchester United the visitors to Stamford Bridge on Saturday lunchtime, their failure to qualify for Europe has ensured they are not contending with the same strain on their squad as the Reds.

So how is head coach Iraola's squad shaping up? Let's take a look at the latest...

Florian Wirtz

Wirtz limped off in the 65th minute against Brighton with a twisted ankle, with Iraola admitting after the game he would be a doubt to face Chelsea as a result.

Both player and head coach have played down the severity of the issue, at least. But with the German revealing he has been contending with the injury for a number of weeks, he faces a race to recover in time to face Arsenal next weekend.

"I think it should be all right. It's not too bad,” Wirtz said after beating Brighton. “I don't know much yet, we have to check it but it won't be long.

“We haven’t done any tests yet, but I think it’s not too serious. I’ve been twisting my ankle a bit over the last few weeks. I need to get that sorted out somehow. Then I think I’ll be back for the next game.”

Potential return date: Arsenal (H), November 1

Dominik Szoboszlai

Szoboszlai sat out Liverpool's victories over Villarreal and Brighton, having been forced off after just 32 minutes of his return against Brentford as he continues to contend with a hamstring injury.

Iraola played down the seriousness of the issue after the 3-0 loss to Manchester City that preceded the wins over LASK and Brentford, and was again positive despite the Hungarian's setback in the capital. While he confirmed last week that the midfielder would miss the clash with Brighton, the Basque revealed he had at least started training alone on the grass.

"Dom is going to be out this weekend. He hasn't trained with the group still," he said. "But Dom is in a good place. He's already training outside alone and he's going to train with the group, but he's not ready for this one."

Potential return date: Arsenal (H), November 1

Victor Munoz

Munoz was again absent for Liverpool's win over Brighton, having also sat out the midweek victory over Villarreal.

The Spaniard picked up a knock in the comeback success at Brentford, which he started by equalising with a fine goal. Having been ruled out of facing the Seagulls, it remains to be seen if he could be fit to face Chelsea.

Iraola said ahead of facing Brighton: "Victor, he has the knock he received against Brentford (in the) first half. He could finish the game very well.

"But he's dealing with some pain since then and it was too early the other day against Villarreal. I don't know if he's going to arrive. I think it's going to be difficult but I really don't know."

Potential return date: Chelsea (H), October 28

Jeremie Frimpong

Iraola said after the win at Brentford that Szoboszlai and Frimpong would be out for "some time". But whereas the former's problem is an old one, the latter has sustained a new injury.

It leaves Frimpong, who has been beset by issues since his arrival from Bayer Leverkusen, facing a fresh spell on the sidelines, with his head coach conceding he would not be back before the November international break.

Iraola, who is now without a senior fit and available right-back, said: "Jeremie Frimpong is obviously a new muscle injury and it happened, I think, in the second or third minute he was playing, difficult to predict and we will have to wait until he recovers.

"But it’s going to be difficult, I think, before the [November international] break. We will try but it’s going to be difficult to have him."

Potential return date: Manchester United (H), November 22

Giovanni Leoni

Leoni's planned return after more than a year on the sidelines has been delayed - with the injury suffered by the centre-back more complicated than was initially reported.

The £26m arrival from Parma last summer has been absent since sustaining serious ACL damage when making his debut in the Carabao Cup win at home to Southampton in September 2025.

Leoni had been expected to have resumed full training with the first-team squad during the recent international break. But Iraola revealed earlier this month that his recovery was taking longer than hoped.

He said: “It’s taking more time than we wanted. The planning was to train with the team in this past international break [but] probably it’s going to be in the next international break, so we’ve lost one month in the process.

“Giovanni’s injury, I wasn’t here but talking to the medical department, it was not just an ACL – it was a bad injury, a lot of things around the knee were involved apart from the ACL.

“He has to be very confident, the rehab process has to be very careful with him and we want to make sure once he comes to the team, he stays there in a good place.

“It’s true that we’ve had, not a setback, but a little bit of a delay, if you want. The plan now is he starts in the next break. It’s not that far but it’s a little bit later than we expected, yes.”

Potential return date: December

Hugo Ekitike

The second of Liverpool's three long-term injury victims, Ekitike has not played since rupturing his Achilles tendon against his former club Paris Saint-Germain in April. But according to L'Equipe, the hard work the striker is putting in behind the scenes could see him return to training next month.

And it is believed that Ekitike's long-term target has been to get back into action by Boxing Day, which given the serious nature of the injury he sustained, would be remarkably swift comeback.

The Frenchman was pictured at the club's training base recently undertaking some skipping exercises in the gym and Iraola said: "He is still doing very well according to the plan."

Potential return date: Hull City (A), Saturday, December 26

Conor Bradley

Iraola also confirmed that Bradley is further ahead than Ekitike and is closing in on a return to light training.

The right-back suffered an ACL injury back in January at Arsenal and his Northern Ireland manager, Michael O'Neill, also said last month that he didn't expect Bradley to be available for November's international matches.

And Iraola said: "Conor is not so far from training with the group – not like full training but doing some things with the group."

Potential return date: Unknown

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