Liverpool head coach Arne Slot says Alisson will likely be sidelined for a number of weeks with a suspected hamstring injury sustained in Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace.
The 32-year-old Brazilian was injured in the 79th minute of the match at Selhurst Park after clearing the ball, and was replaced by Vitezslav Jaros, with usual second choice goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher out through illness.
Slot expects Alisson to miss out on Brazil’s World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Peru next week, in addition to Liverpool’s Premier League fixture against Chelsea after October’s international break.
“The latest is we don’t know, but what we know is when a player walks off like he does that normally means he won’t be in the Brazil squad and I don’t expect him in to be the team in the game we play afterwards,” Slot said. “We have to wait and see. It will take a few weeks I assume… I think it is his hamstring.”
Liverpool will not play again until October 20 due to the international break but will then play eight matches in three weeks against Chelsea, RB Leipzig, Arsenal, Brighton & Hove Albion (twice), Bayer Leverkusen and Aston Villa.
“We will probably not be as dominant as we were today when we face Arsenal away but both fixtures are very difficult,” Slot told TNT Sports. “Now it is up to ourselves to show ourselves in the big games as well.
“Unfortunately I assume Ali will not be with us in those matches, given how he walked off the pitch, but it was also very good to see that, with Caoimhin (Kelleher)
being sick yesterday, our third goalkeeper got this performance in. It’s always nice for a team that everyone is involved in the result.”
When asked how Jaros had handled the situation, Slot replied: “Yeah, really good, really good. He had a very good season last season, he won the league and the cup in Austria, we trust him a lot.
“He wanted to go because he wanted playing time again, but we said, ‘Listen, at a club like this we also need a very good third goalkeeper’. Today proved we were right and it was a very nice moment for him to make his debut for Liverpool.”
Slot continued: “Alisson’s a clear No. 1, best goalkeeper in the world. It’s always a blow when he gets injured him and for us as a team. But the positive thing for the team, and it’s not only in the goalkeeper position, it’s almost every position that we have a second option that is also really good.
“Caoimhin has already shown that, so it’s quite clear that he is the No 2. Otherwise the last time Alisson was injured I wouldn’t have played him. Caoimhin is No. 2 and he did very well. And it is very pleasing to see that our third goalkeeper did really well, because Caoimhin was sick yesterday and today, that our third goalkeeper can have an impact on results.”
Alexis MacAllister was also forced off with injury during Saturday’s victory and was replaced at half time by Dominik Szoboszlai. Slot confirmed the midfielder had sustained a groin injury but was unsure on the severity of the issue.
“He went off because of an injury,” the Liverpool head coach explained. “How bad it is, that’s too difficult for me to judge at this moment, he couldn’t continue playing, it didn’t happen one second before half time.
“He felt it a bit too much and he said I don’t think it was good to keep on playing in case you make it worse. Now what is the exact situation, Can he go to Argentina? Can he play over there? That’s difficult for me to tell you now.”
Liverpool return to action on October 20 with a home match against Chelsea in the Premier League.
(John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
