Liverpool have been handed two new injury concerns to key players heading into the October international break.
The high-flying Reds continued their record-breaking start to the new Arne Slot era against Crystal Palace on Saturday lunchtime, seeing off Oliver Glasner’s winless Eagles 1-0 thanks to Diogo Jota’s early strike.
Such a victory was Liverpool’s ninth in 10 games across all competitions so far under Jurgen Klopp’s successor, whose side remain top of the Premier League table ahead of title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal.
However, that success in south London appeared to come with a potential heavy price, with Alisson Becker and Alexis Mac Allister both forced off.
Here is the very latest Liverpool injury news, with Slot’s men set to return after the break with huge games against Chelsea, RB Leipzig and Arsenal.
Alisson Becker
Alisson recently returned from hamstring tightness that forced him to miss the Premier League win over Bournemouth last month, though he is now set for a longer spell out with another hamstring injury.
The Brazilian started as usual against Palace, but limped off after 79 minutes and was replaced by third-string goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros with usual deputy Caoimhin Kelleher absent.
Slot now expects Alisson to withdraw from international duty and does not expect to have him back against Chelsea in Liverpool’s first match back at Anfield on October 20.
"The latest is that we don't know but what we do know is that if a player walks off like he did, that normally means that he is not in the Brazil squad and I don't expect him to be in the team in the first game we play after [the international break],” the manager said.
"We have to wait and see, but it is going to take a few weeks I assume for him to be back. I think it is [his hamstring]."
Potential return date: Unknown, potentially November
Alexis Mac Allister
While Alisson’s exit grabbed all the headlines on Saturday, it went somewhat under the radar that Alexis Mac Allister was also injured against Crystal Palace.
The Argentine World Cup winner was replaced by Dominik Szoboszlai at half-time at Selhurst, with Slot later confirming a groin issue. The Reds boss said he was unsure if Mac Allister would be able to join up with the Argentina squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Bolivia.
“He went off because of an injury, but how bad it is is difficult for me to judge in this moment,” Slot said.
"He could have continued playing, like you saw, because it didn't happen one second before half-time, but he felt it a bit too much and he said he didn't think it was good to keep on playing because you never know if you will make it worse.
"Now, what is the exact situation, can he go to Argentina? Can he play over there? That is difficult for me to tell you now. [It's an issue] in his groin area."
The fact that Mac Allister could have kept on playing may be a positive sign that the problem is nothing serious, but further assessment will obviously be needed.
Potential return date: Unknown
Federico Chiesa
Liverpool’s lone summer signing Federico Chiesa has made just one substitute appearance in the Premier League to date during a slow start to his career on Merseyside.
Slot confirmed earlier this week that the Italian forward would miss the Champions League meeting with Bologna due to a fresh, unspecified issue sustained in training.
He did not return to training before the Palace game and was omitted again from the squad at Selhurst, with fans no doubt hoping that Chiesa can recover his fitness during the international break and be ready for the visit of Chelsea in two weeks’ time.
Potential return date: October 21, vs Chelsea
Harvey Elliott
Harvey Elliott withdrew from England’s Under-21 squad with a foot fracture last month and has not played since.
"Harvey is of course a big disappointment for him but also for us," Slot said a few weeks ago. "Okay, he didn’t play that much in the first three games but he played a lot in pre-season and showed himself really well.
"If he had stayed fit he would have had a lot of playing time in the upcoming fixtures, but now it gives a chance to someone else."
There is apparently optimism that the midfielder will be available shortly after Liverpool return from the current international break.
Potential return date: Late October
Caoimhin Kelleher
Alisson’s injury suffered against Palace was compounded by the absence of reliable No2 Kelleher, who did not make the matchday squad due to illness as 23-year-old Czech Republic international Jaros made a surprise debut instead.
However, he will be expected back and will surely start against Chelsea, with the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper set for another key role for Liverpool in the weeks ahead.
