Alisson is facing a late call over his involvement vs. Crystal Palace, while Arne Slot dismissed speculation over the Liverpool goalkeeper moving to Juventus.
Alisson is yet to return to full training but could still make the cut in time for Liverpool’s 3pm kickoff against Palace on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Slot took a “let’s see” approach to the Brazilian’s availability, with Freddie Woodman on standby to start as second-choice goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili is confirmed out.
“Giorgi will definitely not be available for tomorrow and also not the upcoming weeks,” he said, with Mamardashvili suffering a nasty cut to his knee against Everton.
“Ali is close to returning to play, let’s see if tomorrow comes too early, yes or no.
“That leaves of course Freddie Woodman as an option who is definitely fit.”
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Alisson‘s latest spell on the sidelines comes while talk continues over his future beyond the end of the season, with Juventus widely reported to be interested in a deal for the 33-year-old.
But asked about the future of his No. 1, Slot refused to comment on “rumours” and urged the focus to stay on Alisson‘s “short and mid-term” situation.
“I’m only focused on the short-term future, and that’s getting him back into goal as soon as possible,” he continued.
“But that’s not what you’re asking. I think you know what my answer’s going to be.
“The answer is going to be, of course, all these rumours that are out there, about him, probably about me and about others, we don’t react to rumours in this room.
“By the way, also not in my conversations with Richard. We only react when facts need to be told and that’s not the situation at the moment.
“The main focus for Ali is I think very clear: that’s getting back into goal as soon as possible for the club he loves to play for. And then he wants to be in goal for the country he loves to play for, and that’s Brazil.
“I think that’s already short and mid-term future. That’s not the answer you wanted, is it?”
Liverpool will face a decision this summer regardless of whether Alisson stays or not, with Mamardashvili anticipated to take over as first choice in the future and unlikely to be happy to be backup for another season.
With Alisson‘s injury problems continuing there is a conversation to be had over his reliability, despite still being one of the best goalkeepers in world football as he approaches his 34th birthday.
However, Slot believes the intensity of the schedule is a bigger factor than being prone to injury.
“For a football fan it’s really nice [having so many games to watch], of course for the health of the players it’s getting more and more and more,” he said.
“Maybe age plays a part, but this week we saw one of the youngest players, playing at an incredibly high level, Lamine Yamal, getting a muscle injury as well.
“I would not put that down to age. I would put that more down to the schedule that we are facing.”