Liverpool suffered a double injury blow with Diego Jota and Curtis Jones out of the squad

Things went from bad to worse for Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool after two key players were ruled out for the Premier League clash with Brentford just a week before the Carabao Cup final.

Liverpool's injury list is one of the longest in the Premier League – something that doesn't help when you're still three cup competitions away and chasing the league title.

With players long out to play for their countries at the African Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup, with several key names on the treatment table, the word crisis springs to mind. Now, their squad has been dealt another crushing blow when two more key players had to withdraw through injury in the first half of their match at Brentford.

Both Curtis Jones and key attacker Diego Jota went down in what was 10 minutes to forget for manager Jurgen Klopp.

With a midfield already stretched thin, Jones went down after 34 minutes with an ankle sprain and was unable to continue. That meant he had to be replaced by Ryan Gravenbruch.

Just 10 minutes later, Jota, whose brilliant header set up Darwin Nunez for the opener, looked distraught as he had to be dragged off the field. The Portuguese star suffered a knee injury.

Goalscorer Nunes was also taken off at half-time in what was called a precaution, meaning Liverpool could have three key players lost after just 45 minutes. Although it is still unclear about Nunez's condition.

Jota's return meant Mohamed Salah made an earlier-than-expected return to Premier League action after being away with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations. Fortunately for Klopp, it didn't take long for Salah to make his mark, as he set up Alexis McAllister with a lovely finish to put the Reds two up in the second half. Salah then grabbed the third goal in the 68th minute when he incredibly outmuscled defender Nathan Collins before slotting the ball home.

Dominik Szoboszlai is already missing in midfield, along with the likes of Thiago and Stefan Bajčetić. First-choice keeper Allison has been ruled out with a hamstring problem, and Trent Alexander-Arnold is out at the back.

With the League Cup final against Chelsea looming next Sunday, and Manchester City romping through the league, Klopp's headache will be stronger than just those two losses.