Liverpool's fixture pile-up just bit back

Szoboszlai went down inside the opening 45 minutes and did not reappear for the second, with Liverpool managing to hold on for the points anyway. That's the version fans will take home. The version that matters longer term is the one Iraola raised unprompted: a Liverpool squad being asked to do an awful lot, awfully often.

'Delicate situation'

Iraola described Liverpool's players as being in a "delicate situation" given how "demanding" their schedule is, according to BBC Sport. It's not the kind of line an opposition manager usually bothers with after a defeat, which is exactly why it landed. Brentford had just lost to the side he was describing as vulnerable.

The context writes itself even without a full fixture list to hand. Liverpool have had a start to the season that looks more like a team still finding its rhythm than one cruising through autumn. Add continental football into the mix, as any top-six side in October invariably has, and a midfielder going off injured becomes a squad-depth story rather than a one-off knock.

Szoboszlai's absence and Liverpool's midfield math

No severity or expected return has been put on the Szoboszlai issue, and Flagside won't guess at one. What's clear is the timing: losing a regular first-team midfielder in the same week your own opponent is publicly flagging your fixture load is not the kind of coincidence a manager wants attached to his squad. Whether Slot's squad has the depth to absorb another injury, across whatever comes next on the calendar, is the question he has to answer without the benefit of a second Szoboszlai sitting on the bench.

Anfield's crowd will be hoping the damage is minor. Iraola, for what it's worth, sounded like he hoped otherwise.