Arne Slot has confirmed Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson will miss this weekend’s Premier League clash against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Alisson, one of the best goalkeepers in the world, hobbled off in the second half of Liverpool’s Champions League defeat to Galatasaray on Tuesday night.
The Brazil international pulled off a superb save to deny Victor Osimhen, whose first-half penalty was enough to separate the two teams, but then signalled to the bench that he needed to come off.
‘It’s never positive if you go off like this,’ Slot said of Alisson’s injury. ‘You can be sure he is not playing Saturday.’
On Liverpool’s second successive defeat, Slot added: ‘Again, disappointed.
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‘For me, this was a different performance on and off the ball (than Crystal Palace). First half we played quite well and had a big chance to go 1-0 up.
‘It is difficult to compare this situation to before. We are sometimes a bit out-smarted in situations like this and I cannot blame Dominik Szoboszlai for the situation. They make a 20% penalty a 100% penalty, which is very smart from them.
‘We are not so far (off the level shown last season). This is sometimes what the schedule can bring, Galatasaray is not a simple game. We now play Chelsea away, a difficult game.
‘The margins are small and they were last season. For the second time in a row we are on the wrong side. I saw a lot of things in the first half, but the second half was much less.
‘I don’t think in the second half there was a lot of playing time, their striker was on the floor four or five times. It was difficult to get momentum in the game.’
Liverpool, bidding to retain the Premier League trophy, won their first six games of the new season but rode their luck with a number of late winners.
Their fortune ran out on Saturday as they conceded an injury-time goal to lose at Crystal Palace and Liverpool suffered another defeat in the Champions League on Tuesday.
‘It is difficult to say at the moment (if Galatasaray deserved the win),’ Anfield captain Virgil van Dijk said. ‘They got the penalty and opportunities through our mistakes.
‘It was a bit sloppy. We took the risk in possession and tried to find the spare man in midfield. That comes with risk.
‘We broke through to the last line many times and we maybe have to do better there. In those moments, we made the wrong decisions, they break on us and become dangerous.
‘Losing is bad, these two games don’t feel nice. I have been in the game a long time, it’s about working and keeping your head down.’
Asked if he felt Liverpool had lost the authority they showed during their title-winning campaign last season, Van Dijk added: ‘I think we have showed it already in many games this season but we haven’t shown it for the full 90 minutes yet unfortunately.
‘It is absolutely normal and nowadays you don’t get the time from the outside world so you have to be strong mentally.
‘I am very confident, we have to keep working and sticking together. We had a good start this year in terms of points tally.
‘There shouldn’t be panic, but improvement is needed.’
Liverpool’s next opponents Chelsea had lost two of their last three games before beating Jose Mourinho’s Benfica on Tuesday evening.
In Alisson’s absence, Giorgi Mamardashvili – who came on against Galatasaray – will start against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
It will be Mamardashvili’s third appearance for Liverpool following his £29m move from La Liga club Valencia.
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