It is quite remarkable that Liverpool has enjoyed such a brilliant run of form against the backdrop of persistent injury problems in the opening months of the season.

Harvey Elliott, who played 53 times last term, has barely featured under Arne Slot after suffering a fractured foot in September; new signing Federico Chiesa has played just three times; Alisson has missed more games than he's played in; and Diogo Jota has been out for the best part of two months with a chest injury.

Liverpool was hit with two more blows during the win over Real Madrid earlier this month as Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley sustained knee and hamstring injuries respectively, which will keep them out until the new year.

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Still, Liverpool sits four points clear at the top of the Premier League table — with a game in hand — and it sits five points clear at the top of the Champions League table, while there's also the small matter of a Carabao Cup quarter-final to come next week.

The plethora of injuries that Liverpool has had to contend with have not had a negative impact on the team's results, but, with a hectic schedule of fixtures ahead, Arne Slot will be grateful to be welcoming back three players who will be able to ease the burden on their teammates in the weeks ahead.

Jota and Chiesa both returned to team training earlier this week and next week's Carabao Cup trip to Southampton could present Slot with the perfect opportunity to ease both men into the team.

Portuguese forward Jota is clearly a more established player in Slot's Premier League plans than Chiesa and might even expect minutes against Fulham this weekend, but a player of Chiesa's pedigree will also have covet involvement in the team's biggest matches.

Slot rotated left-backs Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas in the opening months of the season, but Robertson has started the Reds' last six games after Tsimikas sustained an ankle injury last month. Thankfully, Tsimikas was back on the training pitch this week as he was pictured doing some individual ball work at the AXA Training Centre.

The Greece international is clearly behind the likes of Jota and Chiesa in his recovery but, given he has only been out for around a month, he could be quickly back in the fold. Liverpool has five more games in December and as many as eight matches to come in January, so Slot will need as many players as possible as the Reds continue to fight for glory on all fronts.