Alisson Becker suffered a hamstring injury during Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace before the international break
Arne Slot has dismissed concerns Alisson Becker’s injury might rule him out until the Christmas period as the Liverpool head coach revealed how important he is viewing the next few weeks without his first-choice goalkeeper.
Alisson suffered a hamstring injury midway through the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace before the international and is expected to be sidelined until late November after a scan was undertaken early last week.
It means the Brazil international will miss some huge games over the next few weeks including Sunday’s visit from Chelsea, a trip to Arsenal next weekend and Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
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Slot played down suggestions Alisson’s enforced absence could drag through to late December as he talked up a hugely instructive period for what the Dutchman’s Liverpool side are capable of this term.
“It feels a long time before Christmas so I expect Ali to be back before Christmas, yeah,” Slot said. “But you never know.
“It is always difficult to now how an injury will go in the in the first stages, so we can answer that question better in two or three weeks time. because you can always get setbacks.
“It’s not so much about the fixture list because I think Wolves away might be just as hard as Chelsea at home. Ask me this question after the game – but I think every away game is really tough and a home game gives you a bit of an advantage so all these games are difficult but what tells me most is – and I have said this many times also – is that it will be more interesting for me to see what is going to happen (playing both Champions League and Premier League fixtures).
Slot added: “Two years ago this club played in the Champions League and you know what the end result on the Premier League table was (fifth). I say this because then during the Champions League nights the Virgils (Van Dijk) and the Trents (Alexander-Arnold) and all of them played.
“Last season was a better season in the Premier League table but in the Europa League Trent and Virgil didn’t play so it was one game a week and playing one game a week is a big advantage compared to two games a week.
“So I am more curious to see how we handle the difficult Champions League games and then be ready for the weekend. I am so curious to see how we play against the better teams in the Premier League, but I think the main difference between Holland and England is that if PSV play the 18th team there is a gap but in England the gap between the No 1 team and the 18th is smaller.”
