‘Big blow’ – Liverpool dealt two major injury concerns ahead of Chelsea showdown
Liverpool have two fresh injury concerns to deal with ahead of their Premier League fixture against Chelsea on Saturday.
The Reds have had a night to forget in their Champions League clash against Galatasaray, losing out to a contentious first-half penalty and then seeing two players forcibly withdrawn after the interval.
Liverpool dealt double injury blow
Immediately after making a one-on-one save from Victor Osimhen, Alisson Becker remained on the ground and required treatment before having to go off, with Giorgi Mamardashvili sprung from the bench for the final half-hour or so.
As the Brazilian goalkeeper made his premature exit from the pitch at RAMS Park, James Pearce remarked on X that it represented a ‘big blow’ for Liverpool to see their number 1 – who spared his team from a thrashing by Crystal Palace the weekend – go off injured.
Midway through the second half, Hugo Ekitike went down after stretching to try and gain possession and he too was left with no choice but to make way as Alexis Mac Allister came on, with that being the fifth and final substitution available to Arne Slot.
In response to the Frenchman’s body blow, Sky Sports reporter Sam Blitz wrote: “Double blow for Liverpool this. Losing Alisson to injury and THEN Ekitike? We saw at the weekend how unprepared Isak is and how big a miss Ekitike was.”
A costly night for Liverpool on the injury front
The Reds had been relatively unscathed on the injury front until tonight, but with the Galatasaray game being their sixth match in 17 days, perhaps it’s no surprise that we haven’t come through that hectic period without some collateral damage.
The probable loss of Alisson for upcoming fixtures represents a massive blow for Liverpool, considering how excellently he’s been performing in the early weeks of the campaign, and Mamardashvili will be heavily relied upon to come good in our forthcoming games.
Ekitike missed the defeat at Palace through suspension and, having been restored to the starting XI tonight, his fine start to the season (five goals in his first eight games) has now been checked by the injury he sustained in Istanbul.
Obviously we don’t know the full extent of those two injuries just yet, and the timing of the international break might mean that the duo miss only the Chelsea match next Saturday.
Slot is likely to offer a bit more insight on Alisson and Ekitike after the match tonight, and fingers crossed that neither will be ruled out for an extended period, particularly with Liverpool’s form starting to take an unwanted turn.
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