Alisson and Hugo Ekitike were both forced off with injury during Liverpool’s defeat to Galatasaray, and Arne Slot has provided a brief update on the pair.
The Brazilian, not for the first time, kept Liverpool in the match with important stops to deny the home side from extending their advantage and save his teammate’s blushes.
As has, unfortunately, been the case throughout his career, injury struck again when coming out of his goal to stop Victor Osimhen’s effort after Ibrahima Konate‘s mistake.
He instantly put his hand in the air to call for attention after the save, and Giorgi Mamardashvili was subsequently introduced for only his second competitive appearance for the club.
Ekitike, meanwhile, pulled up after stretching for a pass and was immediately replaced in what was another sucker punch on a night to forget for Liverpool.
Slot offered a brief update after the match to Prime, ruling Alisson out of the next match: “It’s never positive if you go off like this, so you can be sure he is not playing on Saturday.
“Let’s wait how long it’s going to take [to return]. He’s definitely not going to play on Saturday.”
As for Ekitike, Slot was left to hope he is “not in a bad way” after feeling “something when he reached for the ball,” seemingly his hamstring, in what was his sixth start of the season.
The Athletic’s James Pearce reported that Ekitike was “confident he only had cramp in his hamstring rather than anything more serious.”
Liverpool travel to Chelsea on Saturday in their final game before the international break, with seven games in 22 days to come on their return.
Alisson’s troublesome injury record
Alisson missed 15 games last season due to injury for a combination of hamstring and thigh issues, plus a concussion while on international duty.
Over the previous six seasons, Alisson has missed a total of 55 games for Liverpool due to injuries and illness, a startling number for a No. 1.
It is the worst record of any goalkeeper in the Premier League, and Slot spoke last season of how Liverpool staff had been “looking into” his history with injuries.
“We are looking into it, what could be the reason. One of the things we all know is if you had one then the chances of getting another one always go up,” he said last October.
“We’ve tried to be really careful with him.”
Mamardashvili will, therefore, make his Premier League debut on Saturday after playing 34 minutes in Istanbul.
Galatasaray 1-0 Liverpool
