Liverpool dealt double injury blow ahead of crucial Aston Villa clash as Arne Slot faces headache

Liverpool are set to be without two key players ahead of their crucial clash with Aston Villa, and it's left Arne Slot with a tough decision to make.

On Sunday afternoon, Liverpool survived what looked like it could have been a wobble in their title charge after claiming a scrappy 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield.

Following the difficult game, the Reds face two tough away matches against Aston Villa and recent Premier League rivals Manchester City.

But ahead of the first of the two matches, Liverpool boss Slot has confirmed that he expects to be without two key players, and it could be a big problem.

Several players have enjoyed significant improvements in performance since Slot replaced legendary manager Jurgen Klopp in the dugout over the summer.

Cody Gakpo is just one of those players, as the Dutch manager has helped his countryman find form throughout this season, where he has scored 16 goals and assisted five across 36 appearances in all competitions this season.

But, ahead of the match against Villa on Wednesday, Slot confirmed that the forward will not be available for selection, with centre back Joe Gomez also sidelined with a long-term injury sustained during the FA Cup clash with Plymouth Argyle.

“I think both [Gakpo and Gomez] are not available for tomorrow," confirmed the Liverpool boss.

"Cody is close to being back and Joe will take quite a long time. He is going to be out for numerous weeks because of a hamstring injury.”

On Gomez, Slot added: “He tries everything to be with the team. He works really hard to come back and then first game when he came back, after two or three minutes we saw him making a sprint and now he is out for weeks again.

Cody Gakpo has enjoyed his best season at Liverpool so far under Arne Slot. (Image: Getty)

“That’s always very hard for a player in every part of the season, let alone in the part of the season that everybody is looking forward to.

“He will a miss large part of the end of the season but we expect him to be back in the end phase of the season. He might [need surgery] but that is something we still have to assess.”

Gakpo's absence for the game on Wednesday leaves Slot with a difficult decision over who should start on the left of his attack, a position that Gakpo has made his own in recent weeks.

Both Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez are expected to be available for selection, but with both men struggling to find form in recent games, it appears that Gakpo's injury couldn't have come at a worse time.