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Liverpool are in the business end of the season without their most trusted last line of defence in Alisson Becker.
The Brazilian has already endured a stop‑start campaign with muscular problems, and his latest setback is another hamstring issue.
It’s the same type of issue that has sidelined him for extended periods over the last two seasons. Liverpool had been cautious, only for the 33‑year‑old to pull up again and be ruled out of the last 16 clash vs Galatasaray.
The club have been reluctant to put a hard date on his return, but the expectation is that he will only be back towards the latter stages of the campaign, if at all.
Now Arne Slot, speaking in his pre-Fulham press conference, has revealed that the Brazilian shot-stopper is not yet ready for Saturday’s tie against Fulham:
“We don’t get the player back yet, but Alisson is working hard to get his way back. He won’t be in this weekend.”
“That Alex is available for us again is vital of course. It has been hard for us to convert chances into goals and he’s been a goalscorer all his life. To have him back is really nice.”
“It was only 15 minutes but good to have him back. Hopefully he can grow to his form as soon as possible. The last time of course it took him a while which is normal, but we’re hoping after the great rehab period we can bring him faster to the level we want him to be at.”
The Brazilian has already missed more than a quarter of the campaign through various muscular issues, and this latest hamstring problem arrived at the worst possible time.
Slot had initially warned that his No.1 might only be back for the very last stretch of the season, but Alisson has since tried to calm fears by insisting he has not suffered a new setback and is targeting full training again towards the end of April.
