Liverpool have been dealt a major blow with Alisson Becker ruled out for up to six weeks after suffering a hamstring injury in Istanbul.
The Brazil No 1 pulled up during Tuesday’s Champions League defeat at Galatasaray and scans on Thursday confirmed the worst. The 33-year-old will not be back until after the international break and could miss some of Liverpool’s biggest games of the season.
That includes the clash with Manchester United at Anfield on October 19, the Champions League showdown with Real Madrid on November 4 and a brutal Premier League trip to Manchester City five days later.
Alisson has been plagued by injuries in recent years, sitting out 20 league matches across the last two campaigns. His latest setback leaves Arne Slot turning to summer signing Giorgi Mamardashvili, the £29million Georgian keeper brought in from Valencia, who is now set for his Premier League debut.
There is at least some relief for Liverpool fans. Hugo Ekitike, the club’s top scorer this season, is confident of shaking off the knock that forced him off in Turkey. The French striker expects to be fit for Saturday’s showdown with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Daily Mail Sport first reported that Ekitike had avoided serious damage and he is pushing to return, with Federico Chiesa also in line to make the squad after sitting out midweek with a minor problem.
But Giovanni Leoni is facing a long spell on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Slot admitted after the Galatasaray defeat that he feared the worst when Alisson went down. “If my player is on the floor nine times out of ten I think he cannot continue. It is never positive if you go off like this. You can be sure he is not playing Saturday,” the Liverpool boss said.
On Ekitike he added: “I was not really thinking it was an injury but Hugo felt something. He said he could not continue so we had to take him off.”
Liverpool desperately need a lift after two damaging defeats in the space of four days. They lost their unbeaten Premier League record with a 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace before collapsing in Istanbul.
Now they must try to steady themselves without their world-class keeper as the season’s biggest tests loom.