Liverpool have been hit with a severe injury setback after scans confirmed Alisson faces six weeks out with the hamstring injury he sustained against Crystal Palace on Saturday.
The Brazil international was withdrawn in the 79th minute of the 1-0 win having suffered a second hamstring problem of the season. Tests have revealed the severity of the injury means Liverpool will be without their first-choice goalkeeper until after November’s international break.
Liverpool face a demanding schedule between October’s and November’s international breaks, one that head coach, Arne Slot, believes will show the measure of his Premier League leaders. But they will do so without Alisson, who will miss Premier League games against Chelsea, Arsenal, Brighton and Aston Villa, the Carabao Cup trip to Brighton, and Champions League group matches against RB Leipzig and German champions, Bayer Leverkusen. Should he return on schedule, the keeper will be available for the league visit to Southampton on 24 November and Real Madrid’s visit to Anfield three days later.
Alisson missed 10 games last season due to injury and illness and was absent for this season’s league defeat of Bournemouth plus the Carabao Cup rout of West Ham with a previous hamstring issue. But he remains a hugely influential and important figure.
Liverpool signed Georgia international Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia in August in a deal worth up to £29m but he will not move to Merseyside until next summer. Caoimhin Kelleher will get another opportunity to impress in Alisson’s absence while third-choice keeper Vitezslav Jaros, who replaced the South American at Selhurst Park with Kelleher sidelined through illness, is highly-rated at Liverpool.
