Arne Slot confirms major Liverpool injury blow amid Hugo Ekitike fitness update

Ekitike

Arne Slot has confirmed Liverpool have been dealt a major injury blow with Alisson Becker expected to be sidelined for several weeks with a hamstring problem.

But both Hugo Ekitike and Federico Chiesa are in contention for Saturday's Premier League visit to Chelsea.

Alisson suffered his injury when sprinting back to make a save from Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen during the opening stages of the second half in the 1-0 Champions Leaguedefeat in Istanbul on Tuesday evening.

The 32-year-old underwent scans on Thursdayto ascertain the extent of the damage having the previous day not been named in Brazil's squad for their forthcoming friendlies against South Korea and Japan in the Far East.

And Slot has revealed Liverpool do not expect the shot-stopper to be back available soon.

The Reds boss said: “Alisson is not a part of the squad tomorrow. And he’s not going to travel to Brazil as well for the national team. So, he will be out for Saturday.

Slot

“How long he is out depends also on how fast a recovery goes.

“So, Saturday it’s clear, he’s not going to play for Brazil, and I would be surprised if he would be there in the first game after the international break (home to Manchester United on October 19).

“But from there on, sometimes things can go a bit faster or a bit slower.

“It’s always difficult to say the amount of days and weeks, but for the upcoming games he will not be part of us or the Brazil team.”

Asked if he was concerned that Alisson had suffered a hamstring injury for the third successive season, Slot added:

"I am not a doctor, I cannot tell you if it is every time the same.

"What I'm mainly interested in is if he can play at the weekend and how long it is going to take and a lot of people in the club can give you a better answer than I can."

Giorigi Mamardashvili, the £29m summer arrival from Valencia, will now deputise for Alisson having come off the bench against Galatasaray after making his Liverpool debut the previous midweek in the League Cup win over Southampton.

And Slot added: "We have seen against Southampton how well he has adjusted.

“We knew we were bringing in a very good goalkeeper but when he played his first game that is always the best way to see if he has adjusted well or not and you saw in that game that he has adjusted well to our club”

"That is not a surprise because he is a quality goalkeeper, now he can do what Caoimh had done so many times in the past, replacing Alisson and hopefully he can do it like Caoimh did many so times before."

There was, though, better news about Ekitike and Chiesa, who have both suffered injury problems during the past week.

Ekitike was forced off during the second half in Turkey after undergoing lengthy treatment on the pitch, while Chiesa missed the trip entirely due to a minor knock.

But Slot said: “Hugo is going to train today again and let’s see where he is, and the same can be said for Federico. We have to wait and see after the session where exactly they are.”

The visit to Chelsea (5.30pm kick-off) is Liverpool's last match before the second international break of the season.

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