Liverpool were forced to cancel a pre-match press conference for Wednesday’s Champions League visit to Eintracht Frankfurt after technical issues caused a three-hour delay to their flight to Germany.
Ryan Gravenberch was not among the 21-man squad that did eventually take off from Merseyside after suffering an ankle injury in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.
The English champions are hoping to avoid a fifth consecutive defeat for the first time in 73 years against free-scoring Frankfurt.
“Our pre-match press conference for the clash with Eintracht Frankfurt has been cancelled,” Liverpool said in a statement.
“A delay in the squad’s scheduled flight out to Frankfurt, due to technical issues with the aircraft, means the briefing will now not be able to take place.”
Gravenberch’s absence could open the door for Florian Wirtz as he returns to his homeland.
Wirtz has been left out by Arne Slot for the last two Premier League games after an underwhelming start to his Liverpool career since a £100 million ($134 million) move from Bayer Leverkusen.
Hugo Ekitike is also expected to come back into the side against his former club after leaving Frankfurt for Anfield in a £69 million move in July.
Both sides have three points from their opening two Champions League games.
Liverpool’s blip is becoming a full-blown crisis as manager Arne Slot urgently seeks answers after the Premier League champions suffered a fourth straight defeat for the first time in more than a decade.
The Reds lost 2-1 to Manchester United on Sunday, the first time their bitter rivals have won at Anfield since January 2016.
Liverpool rode their luck in a seven-game winning run at the start of the season, boosted by a flurry of late goals, but an expected improvement in performances has failed to materialise.
They have now lost four consecutive games in all competitions for the first time since November 2014, when Brendan Rodgers was manager.
AFP Sport looks at the serious issues that Slot must address to save Liverpool’s season.
Salah slump
Mohamed Salah looks a pale shadow of the man who terrorised defences last season on his way to winning the Premier League’s Golden Boot award.
The “Egyptian King”, so often the fulcrum of Liverpool’s attack, has scored just one goal from open play in the Premier League this season, on the opening weekend.
On Sunday he was guilty of missing two big chances against United.
The forward was left out of the starting line-up in the recent Champions League defeat at Galatasaray and, starkly, was hauled off on Sunday even as Liverpool chased an equaliser.
