Arne Slot shares early Liverpool team news v Southampton
Arne Slot has confirmed that four Liverpool stars will miss Sunday’s trip to Southampton.
Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa were ruled out of the contest but Virgil van Dijk and Harvey Elliott are in team training and should make the journey to the South Coast on 24 November.
The Reds head coach gave the update in his pre-match press conference ahead of the contest, saying: “[Alisson] is back in training with the goalkeeping coach, but not with the team yet, not ready for Sunday.
Virgil is all good, he is training with us today, Trent is not training with us yet but he is getting there so we expect him to be back with us soon.
“Harvey is training with us again so that is a positive thing, Jota is still apart from the group, the same as Federico, the last part of recovery is always the most difficult.”
Asked about whether he expects to have Alisson, Jota or Alexander-Arnold back for the heavyweight clash with Real Madrid in midweek, the Dutchman gave a pessimistic response.
“For next week? We have to wait and see because the last week is always tricky because it’s isolated to group sessions so it is difficult to judge. So I cannot say it will one or two or three days. Alisson and Jota I don’t expect them to be fit for that game, Trent will be in between.”
Injury update a big blow for Liverpool
The update from Slot was a huge blow in a crucial week for the Merseyside outfit, they should be able to get past Southampton who sit bottom of the Premier League without the missing players but then they face Real Madrid and Manchester City.
Caoimhin Kelleher has been hailed as the best back-up goalkeeper in the country but Alisson is arguably the best goalkeeper in the world and could have made a big difference with two huge matches on the horizon.
Alexander-Arnold is one of the best playmakers in world football and while again he does have a very capable replacement in Conor Bradley, it is another huge loss, especially with those crucial fixtures imminently arriving.
Darwin Nunez has improved in recent weeks however Jota is one of the most clinical forwards in the league, he looks set to miss both fixtures in another cruel twist of fate.
Mohamed Salah has been in sensational form this season, notching 20 goal contributions in 17 matches however the weekend’s game is the type of match that the Reds could have rested him in ahead of a brutal week, but his only natural replacement in the squad is Chiesa, who is still a few weeks away from a return to fitness.
Having Van Dijk and Elliott back is a big positive but it is definitely outweighed by the negatives on this occasion.
In other Liverpool news, Alexis Mac Allister should be dropped for the Southampton game after his Argentina exploits.
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