Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has been ruled out until towards the end of the season, with Reds boss Arne Slot confirming Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak are available
Arne Slot has revealed that Liverpool anticipate being without Alisson Becker until ‘towards the end of the season’ as the Brazilian shot-stopper continues his recovery from yet another injury setback.
Alisson was absent for the recent Champions League encounter at Galatasaray due to a training ground problem, before making his comeback for the Premier League fixture against Tottenham Hotspur and the Galatasaray return leg.
Nevertheless, he withdrew from the squad once more on the eve of the Premier League journey to Brighton ahead of the international break, and is now ruled out of both the upcoming fixtures against Manchester City in the FA Cup and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
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During his press conference before the City encounter, Reds manager Slot confirmed his absence from the match, stating: “He will not be part of the PSG game either, (he is) out for a bit longer. Towards the end of the season we expect him to be fit,” reports the Liverpool Echo.
Slot did offer more encouraging updates regarding both Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak, with the Egyptian sufficiently recovered to rejoin the squad after sitting out the loss at Brighton, and Isak returning to full training following the broken leg he suffered in December.
Regarding Salah, who will be making his first appearance since announcing he will be departing the Reds at the end of the season, Slot said: “Yes he is [available], he trained with us yesterday, he will train with us today and is available for tomorrow.”
The Reds manager urged caution over Isak, stating: “It’ll be too soon to expect him in the starting lineup, it was first time training yesterday after 101 days out.
“It will take a bit of time to give him a lot of minutes, but we will make sure we do the right thing to build him up. It is a good thing to have him on the training ground, even better to get him on the pitch.”
Regarding whether Isak might earn a spot on the bench, Slot added: “It’s a difficult one, we don’t play a ‘normal’ game, it could go to extra time, which makes it difficult if he can only play 10 minutes.
“We can take him off again of course, if we have the players, but maybe a few minutes tomorrow, but let’s wait and see today, how he feels. Two sessions, 100 days out, it makes no sense to start him tomorrow.”
Slot confirmed that right-back Jeremie Frimpong is “okay” but may need his minutes carefully managed after he sustained an injury while on Netherlands duty on Tuesday.