Liverpool boss Arne Slot fears No 1 Alisson Becker will miss his side’s clash against Chelsea at least as the keeper suffered his latest hamstring injury.
The Brazil keeper limped off in the closing stages of his team’s win at Crystal Palace and is expected to stay on Merseyside for the international break.
The Reds face Chelsea once Premier League action commences before a Champions League visit to Red Bull Leipzig.
They then face title rivals Arsenal on October 27.
And Slot – who also revealed that midfielder Alexis Mac Allister was brought off at half-time due to a groin issue – believes Alisson will miss the Chelsea clash on October 20 as an absolute minimum.
Alisson went down clutching his hamstring late in the second half against Crystal Palace
The Brazilian had recently worked his way back from a hamstring injury weeks earlier
Alisson had to be taken off and was consoled by a number of his Liverpool teammates
‘‘We don’t know (how bad it is), but when he walks off like he does it means he is not in going with the Brazil squad and I don’t expect him to be in the team for the game afterwards,’ said Slot.
‘He is the best keeper in the world, so it’s a blow.’
Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk also offered a worrying update on Alisson.
‘Alisson’s injury doesn’t look good,’ Van Dijk said.
‘It looks like a hamstring injury which was already bothering him, and from which he recovered.’
Liverpool’s third-choice goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros was the man who replaced Alisson in the 79th minute against Palace as regular backup Caoimhin Kelleher was absent with illness.
Jaros, who spent last season on loan at Austrian club Sturm Graz, did his chances of retaining his spot no harm when he pulled off a key save to deny Eberechi Eze.
Slot said the 23-year-old was ‘really good’ and felt his cameo underlined the importance of having a strong goalkeeping stable, especially since Jaros wanted to move in the summer.
Jaros made a clutch save with only a handful of minutes left in normal time to deny Eze
The 23-year-old was thrust into the contest after Alisson’s injury but did not look out of place
Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk celebrates with the goalkeeper after their clean sheet
‘He (Jaros) had a very good season last season,’ Slot told TNT Sports.
‘He won the league and he won the cup where he was in Austria. And he wanted to go. He wanted to go because he wanted to have playing time again.
‘But we said, ‘Listen, at a club like this, we also need a very good third goalkeeper, and today proved that we are right.
‘And maybe for him, was a nice moment to make his debut for Liverpool.’
Slot will hope his medical staff can work their magic on Alisson with the Premier League to pause for the international break after Sunday.
Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Palace ensured they would go into the break top of the table having won six league games from seven.