Arne Slot has allayed fears Hugo Ekitike has joined Liverpool’s busy treatment room – but admits Alisson Becker now faces a race against time to be fit for the Champions League showdown with Paris Saint-German.
Alisson joined Mohamed Salah in missing Saturday’s dismal 2-1 Premier League defeat at Brighton having suffered a hamstring injury that ruled him out of the Brazil squad for their forthcoming friendlies.
The goalkeeper has been plagued by hamstring problems in recent times and a fortnight ago missed the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 clash against Galatasrary having felt an issue during training.
And with Liverpool resuming after the international break with an FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester City before the Champions League quarter-final first leg at PSG five days later, Giorgi Mamardashvili is again on standby to deputise.
Of the latest setback, Slot said: “Alisson will definitely be out during the international break. Let’s see afterwards.”
Liverpool saw Ekitike limp off at Brighton after less than 10 minutes having been caught by former Reds midfielder James Milner during the opening exchanges.
But Slot said: “Hugo, I think he could play tomorrow if he needed to. It was a dead leg.”
The Reds were already without long-term injury absentees Alexander Isak, Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo and Giovanni Leoni for the trip to the South Coast.
