Liverpool may be without Alisson Becker until late November after scans showed he has a hamstring injury. The Brazilian goalkeeper will miss crucial upcoming matches, including the home game against Chelsea, the away fixture against Arsenal, and a Champions League encounter with Bayer Leverkusen.
Scans have confirmed a hamstring tear, and the goalkeeper is expected to be out until at least after November’s international break.
This news will be seen as a significant setback for Arne Slot, marking his first major injury issue since becoming head coach in early June.
Alisson has been dealing with the issue for a number of weeks and was thought to have aggravated it when playing against AC Milan last month in the Champions League.
After coming back to the team following absences for the matches against Bournemouth in the Premier League and West Ham United in the Carabao Cup, he had to be substituted at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon as the Reds secured a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace to stay at the top of the Premier League.
With regular backup Caoimhin Kelleher out due to illness for the match, Alisson was substituted for Vitezslav Jaros. Jaros made his senior debut for the club and kept a clean sheet in south London.
As he limped out of Selhurst Park, Alisson tried to give a thumbs up when reporters inquired about his condition. Still, the former Roma goalkeeper appeared to be in pain while heading to the team coach. He will miss the international break as Brazil competes in World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Peru.
A scan was performed over the weekend, and the results have confirmed troubling news for Liverpool: They will be without their No. 1 goalkeeper for at least six weeks.
A scan conducted over the weekend revealed concerning news for Liverpool. It confirmed that they will be without their No. 1 goalkeeper for a minimum of six weeks.
“Unfortunately, Alisson will not be with us in those matches (against Chelsea and Arsenal), I assume, if I saw how he walked off the pitch,” Slot said to TNT Sport on Saturday. “It’s true that the fixtures are difficult, but I’ve also felt how difficult Wolves away and Crystal Palace away are. We will probably not be as dominant as we were today. We face Arsenal away, but both fixtures are really difficult and it’s good that we’ve won these games. Now it’s up to us to show ourselves in the big games.”
In the post-match press conference, Slot added: “We don’t know definitely what happened, but we do. If you walk off like he does that normally means he’s not in the Brazil squad and I don’t expect him to be in the team in the first game we play afterwards (at home to Chelsea on October 20). It’s going to take a few weeks, I assume. I think it is his hamstring.” He expressed uncertainty about the situation but indicated that the nature of the walk-off suggests Alisson would not be part of the Brazil squad. Slot does not anticipate him being available for the upcoming match against Chelsea and expects recovery to take several weeks.
“Alisson is our clear No.1 and is the best goalkeeper in the world. It’s always a blow when he gets injured, not only for himself but also for us as a team. The positive thing for the team, not only in the goalkeeper position but also in almost every position, is that we also have a second option that’s really good. Caoimh has already shown this season that he’s quite clearly the number two goalkeeper. He did really well.”
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