Isak, Szoboszlai and Gakpo ruled out of LASK trip, Brentford return uncertain

Liverpool will be without Alexander Isak, Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo for Wednesday’s Champions League trip to LASK, and Andoni Iraola cannot say whether any of the three will be ready for Saturday’s Premier League visit to Brentford. Their absence leaves Liverpool short of the players Iraola identifies as the leading scorers in his system, with Hugo Ekitike also expected to remain out until December.

The trio missed Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Manchester City. Iraola said their recovery is being assessed day by day and that they are expected back much sooner than Ekitike, but he would not commit to a return date.

“They are not bad but it’s difficult to tell right now,” Iraola said. “We are taking it day to day. Really the three of them, I don’t know if it’s going to be Brentford or Villarreal.”

That leaves Saturday’s match at Brentford as a possibility, not a confirmed return. If the injured players are not ready, Liverpool’s next chance to bring them back is their Champions League home fixture against Villarreal on Tuesday, October 20.

The immediate cost is attacking output. “It’s true Cody, Alex and Dom are the top scorers in our system,” Iraola said. “We don’t have them, we didn’t have them against City and we need those players to give us those numbers.” Milos Kerkez said Szoboszlai wants to play on Saturday, but referred questions about his fitness to Iraola.

Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola face greater responsibility in the meantime. Wirtz joined from Bayer Leverkusen in summer 2025, while Barcola arrived this summer. Barcola has no goals or assists from his one league appearance so far—a small sample, but little output to offset the missing trio.

Iraola backed the available players to adapt. “We trust the players we have now to play in those positions,” he said, adding that Wirtz and Barcola “will give us good games.”

The league positions sharpen the challenge: Liverpool are ninth with nine points from six games, while unbeaten Brentford are fourth on 10 points, with two wins and four draws. Liverpool visit them on Saturday, October 17, at 15:00 BST. The key issue is clear: until their main scorers return, the attacking burden falls on players still establishing their impact.