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Arne Slot is optimistic about Ryan Gravenberch’s chances of returning from injury for Liverpool’s Premier League match against Aston Villa on Saturday. The Dutch midfielder has missed the Reds’ last three matches with an ankle injury suffered during their 2-1 defeat to Manchester United at Anfield. Only Villa and Arsenal have also lost just two home league matches since the start of last season, though Unai Emery’s side will feel this weekend presents a rare opportunity to win at Anfield. Liverpool head into the game having lost six of their last seven matches, including their last two in a row, although Slot made wholesale changes for their midweek Carabao Cup tie against Crystal Palace. Alexander Isak has also missed recent games for Liverpool due to a groin injury and could remain sidelined this weekend. “Ryan has a good chance [of being back for the weekend],” Slot said during his post-match press conference following the 3-0 defeat to Palace in the League Cup. “The other ones, let’s wait and see.” Curtis Jones, Jeremie Frimpong and Alisson Becker are also currently unavailable, while Giovanni Leoni faces a long-term layoff after picking up an injury in the last round against Southampton. Defending his team selection against Palace, Slot explained that injuries contributed to the side looking weaker than usual. Along with an inexperienced starting XI, he had no senior players among the substitutes. “I saw Manchester City’s starting eleven and they didn’t have one starter from the weekend, but it still felt like their best team,” he said. “That’s a bit of an insight. Chelsea can bring in Estevão. After I made two substitutions tonight, we had six teenagers.” Every day, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Aston Villa content. Our dedicated reporter John Townley - who you can follow on X by clicking here - follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between. So much happens day to day and sometimes you can struggle to keep on top of the very latest updates as and when they occur - that's why we have produced a daily newsletter which you can sign up to, for free, and which means you'll have a round-up of the key stories land in your email inbox. Sign up to the Villa newsletter here . You can also get all your favourite content from BirminghamLive's Villa team on WhatsApp. Click here to sign up for breaking updates about the biggest stories in and around the club. If you prefer reading our Villa stories on your phone, consider downloading the BirminghamLive app, in which you can personalise the content you see by selecting Villa as one of your designated topics. You can get it from Apple here and for Android here . Our weekly Aston Villa podcast, Claret And Blue, is also available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel here , while you can access the podcast on Spotify here and via Apple here .
