Diogo Jota Could Miss Liverpool’s Next Three Fixtures Through Injury

Jota has missed the Reds' last six games since sustaining an injury in the win against Chelsea on October 20

Diogo Jota of Liverpool leaves the field with an injury Liverpool v Chelsea - Anfield / IMAGO / Colorsport

Arne Slot could be without Diogo Jota for Liverpool's next three fixtures after the November international break despite nearing his comeback from injury.

The Dutchman confirmed back in October that Jota was suffering from bruising to his upper body and the Portuguese forward went on to miss the Reds' last six matches in all competitions.

Jota's absence continued against Aston Villa last weekend and was not called up for Portugal's Nations League matches against Poland and Croatia either.

Issuing an update on Jota's injury before the international break, Arne Slot said: "We expect him back after the international break.

"The first weeks after the international break, we expect him back.

"I always say in Holland, there's privacy [about the nature of the injury] — I don't know what it's like over here — but like I said he will be back one or two weeks after the international break."

In Jota's absence, Liverpool have managed to go five points clear at the top of the Premier League and are also unbeaten in the Champions League with four wins out of four.

The Athletic's James Pearce has provided the latest update on Diogo Jota's possible return, claiming that "Jota is expected to be back available about a week after the international break" meaning he is likely to miss the next three games.

Liverpool travel to St Mary's Stadium to take on Southampton on November 24, before hosting Real Madrid in the Champions League on November 27 and Manchester City four days later at Anfield in the league.

The Reds then face Newcastle United on December 4, a game which could likely mark the return of Jota who has four goals and two assists in 10 appearances this season.

Arne Slot has had to alter his front line in the past few games as he played Luis Diaz as a central striker against Bayer Leverkusen. It paid off handsomely, with the Colombia international scoring his first-ever hat-trick for the club.

After the game, Slot said: "When we had Darwin and Diogo available, we always played one of those two.

"At the moment, Diogo is not available, and in my opinion because we played so many games and Darwin didn't play in the first games it was too much for him [to play in every game] and that's why we came up with other ideas.

"To be honest, I liked the most recent idea - I think every Liverpool supporter did - with Lucho scoring three goals, so that's always interesting to see but Lucho is also a very good left winger. At this moment we've got four attackers available for three positions.

"So we could come up with another idea again, but if Diogo comes back, Darwin is back, and we've got two No.9s available again, and at the beginning of the season I always chose one of these two.