Liverpool are without the injured Alisson Becker for tonight trip to face Chelsea in the Premier League.
The Reds suffered a huge blow when their first-choice goalkeeper’s injured his hamstring and was forced off in the second half of Tuesday’s shock 1-0 defeat by Galatasaray in the Champions League.
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While a time frame for Alisson’s return is not yet known, Arne Slot does expect to be without the Brazilian for the Chelsea game and potentially the visit of Manchester United after the international break.
"It depends on how fast the recovery goes, so it’s clear that he is not going to play for Brazil,” Slot told reporters.
"I will be surprised if he [Alisson] will be there for the first game after the international break. From there on things can go a bit faster or a bit slower. It's difficult to say the amount of days and weeks.
“For the upcoming games he will not be apart of us or the Brazil team.”
With Alisson - who has struggled with hamstring issues in the past - definitely sidelined, summer signing Giorgi Mamardashvili makes his Premier League debut for Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, having deputised for the final 35 minutes off the bench against Galatasaray and also started in the Carabao Cup win over Southampton.
The Georgian international is backed up in west London by fellow new arrival Freddie Woodman.
Hugo Ekitike also went off injured in Istanbul, but the Frenchman is fit enough for a place on the bench alongside Federico Chiesa after missing the Galatasaray game with what Slot described as a “little niggle”
Alexander Isak starts up front, with the British record signing and Mohamed Salah having both been named on the bench in midweek before coming on in the second half, along with Alexis Mac Allister and Conor Bradley.
Giovanni Leoni has now undergone surgery on a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee suffered on debut against Southampton.
Slot expects the Italian defender to be on the sidelines for around a year as he recovers from such a devastating setback so early in his Anfield career.
Confirmed team news
Liverpool XI: Mamardashvili, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez, Szoboszlai, Isak, Mac Allister, Salah, Bradley, Gakpo, Gravenberch.
Substitutes: Woodman, Gomez, Endo, Wirtz, Chiesa, Jones, Ekitike, Robertson, Frimpong.
