Eight players could miss Crystal Palace vs Liverpool after major injury blow

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Liverpool will be missing some crucial players when they travel to Crystal Palace for their Premier League clash this weekend. The Reds head to Selhurst Park aiming to maintain their flawless start to the campaign.

Arne Slot 's squad have secured victory in all five of their Premier League fixtures this term. They remain the sole club with a perfect record, establishing a commanding five-point advantage at the summit.

Liverpool enter the fixture against Palace following a 2-1 triumph against Southampton in the Carabao Cup, with Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike finding the net. Nevertheless, Liverpool will be forced to do without Ekitike for the game at Selhurst Park.

The forward was shown a red card during the Southampton victory after collecting two bookings at Anfield, the second coming after he took his shirt off while celebrating the goal. Ekitike now faces a one-match ban for the dismissal, ruling the striker out of the Palace showdown.

Liverpool will also be without Giovanni Leoni for the fixture after the defender sustained an ACL injury during the Southampton win. The game was the defender's debut for Liverpool after moving from Parma in the summer tranfer window transfe.

Slot revealed during Friday's press briefing that Leoni faces an extended period on the treatment table.

"He is not in a good place because he tore his ACL which means he will be out around a year," he said on Friday.

"Being so young and coming to a new country and playing so well in your first game, it's very hard to take the positives," the Liverpool manager continued.

"There is never a positive side but you try to look at that and that is that he is still so young and he has so many years still go to after he recovers from a terrible injury."

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The injury blow leaves Liverpool with just three fit recognised central defenders. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate are expected to continue their partnership with Joe Gomez playing backup.

Palace also have several injury worries ahead of their match with Liverpool this weekend. Ismaila Sarr, Yeremy Pino, Chadi Riad, Cheick Doucoure, Caleb Kporha and Walter Benitez have all missed games due to injuries recently, and it's uncertain if any will be fit to play against the Reds.

It has however been reported that both Sarr and Pino have been back in training ahead of the match. Sarr has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, while Pino suffered a knee injury in last week's clash against West Ham .

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