Iraola rules nothing out on Szoboszlai, Gakpo and Isak but Leoni's return slips by a month

Brentford manager Andoni Iraola has given a cautious injury update on three key absentees ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Liverpool at the Gtech Community Stadium, admitting it is still too early to know whether Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo or Alexander Isak will be available. The trio all missed Liverpool’s 6-3 Champions League win over LASK on Wednesday.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Iraola said: “It’s early for us to say, we have to train tomorrow. They were not ready so we have to wait and see. Early but like I said they were not ready for previous games, I leave the chance open.”

The fixture comes at a demanding point in the schedule for Brentford, who also face Villarreal in the coming days. Iraola acknowledged the squad depth required to cope: “We need to change Brentford and then Villarreal too. We need everyone, they need to be ready.”

Liverpool arrive at the Gtech Community Stadium looking to bounce back from a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City, a result compounded by Ryan Gravenberch’s red card, which rules him out of the trip to London. Iraola was asked whether youngster Myles Nyoni could fill the void left by Gravenberch, and did not rule out the option given the fixture congestion.

One player to have seized his opportunity during Isak’s absence is 19-year-old Lewis Koumas, who scored against LASK on Wednesday — his goal eventually standing after two earlier efforts were disallowed. Iraola was warm in his assessment of the youngster. “He deserves the minutes,” the Brentford boss said. “We are using him more because Isak is injured but if I wasn’t comfortable then I have other options. He knows he is ready to learn and be the best player he can be. He had a lovely moment yesterday, two goals disallowed and finally scored the third one. A lovely moment for him.”

The more significant long-term update concerned defender Giovanni Leoni, who has been sidelined for over a year following a serious knee injury. Iraola confirmed the young Italian’s return has been pushed back by approximately one month, with the next international break now the revised target.

“It’s taking more time than we wanted,” Iraola said. “With Leo, the plan was to train in the international break but it will be the next one, so we have lost one month of progress. It was not just an ACL, it was a bad injury, a lot of areas around the knee. That process has to be very careful and we want to be careful when he returns to the team he stays in a good place. So the plan now is he starts in the next break. Later than we expected.”