The Liverpool youngster was forced to withdraw during the FA Cup third‑round tie with Barnsley on Monday evening
Bruna Reis
23:51, 12 Jan 2026
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has put Rio Ngumoha's injury scare down to 'cramps' after the youngster was withdrawn early against Barnsley in their 4-1 FA Cup third‑round win at Anfield. The 17‑year‑old, making his first start of the season for the senior side outside the League Cup, went down after 73 minutes and was replaced by Ryan Gravenberch.
He appeared to slip on the astro turf at the edge of the pitch while chasing a loose ball to the byline and received treatment before being substituted. Ngumoha had played 74 and 85 minutes in his two previous Liverpool starts this season.
"That's cramp, I hope. I expect it to be cramp," Slot said on TNT Sports after the game.
"[Ngumoha's injury] is not so strange because he hasn't made that many minutes this season, and today he made [73].
"That's good for him, I think. Without wanting to disrespect [Barnsley], the intensity levels in the Premier League are even higher, so that is a nice taste for Rio to keep working really, really, really hard to be able to play 90 at this level."
Liverpool are dealing with a number of injuries, with the club confirming that Conor Bradley's season is over after he suffered a knee injury against Arsenal.
Giovanni Leoni is also ruled out for the rest of the campaign, having sustained an ACL injury during his Liverpool debut in September.
Alexander Isak and Wataru Endo remain sidelined, while Mohamed Salah is still away on international duty with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations. Egypt face Senegal in the semi‑final for a place in the final.
With that said, Hugo Ekitike returned from injury against Barnsley, coming on at the hour mark to replace Federico Chiesa.
The striker had missed the draws against Fulham and Arsenal as a result, but marked his return by scoring Liverpool's fourth goal of the night against Barnsley.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz were the other scorers. The Reds will now face Brighton & Hove Albion in the fourth round, in another home tie next month.
But their attention turns back to the Premier League, with Burnley visiting Anfield next.