Liverpool: Slot reveals ‘positive’ news regarding one injured star amid Alexander-Arnold return update
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has provided an injury update ahead of his side’s trip to face Premier League strugglers Southampton on Sunday afternoon.
Under Slot, the Reds have enjoyed a sensational start to the 2024/25 campaign as they are top of the Premier League and Champions League. They have won 15 of their 17 matches across all competitions.
Liverpool are five points clear at the top of the Premier League and they will look to maintain/extend their lead at the summit when they face Southampton this weekend.
After this trip, they have matches against Real Madrid, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Everton in the next couple of weeks.
Liverpool are impacted by injuries at the moment as they are without Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker. Slot expects them to miss this weekend’s match, while Virgil van Dijk is “good” and Harvey Elliott is “training again”.
“We are careful with everyone, especially when it comes to muscle injuries,” Slot revealed.
READ: Big Weekend: Man City v Tottenham, Ruben Amorim, Liverpool, Cole Palmer, Napoli, Coventry
“Alisson is training with the goalkeepers but not with the team. He is getting better but is not ready for Sunday.
“Virgil is all good, he is training with us today. Trent isn’t training with us, but he’s getting there to be back with us soon.
“Harvey [Elliott] is training with us again, that’s a positive thing, he’s been out for many weeks but he’s on the training ground again with the team and that’s a positive thing for him.
“[Diogo] Jota is still apart from the group, as is Federico. They are all expected with us in the next few weeks.”
On Elliott, he added: “We always want all of our players available. It was a blow for him and us he got injured for so long. Three months is such a long time.
“He’s training with us again, but that’s different to being to the top of your game again. I’m grateful he’s back, especially with the games that are coming in the next two or three months.”
MORE LIVERPOOL COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Manchester United fans *should* be giddy over Amorim – but Liverpool supporter has warning
👉 Ex-Liverpool chief ‘knows’ Salah, Trent, Van Dijk situation as FSG ‘work feverishly to get deals done’
👉 Maresca, Arteta near bottom but can Amorim match Slot at 5) in ranking of Premier League manager starts?
When asked whether Alisson, Alexander-Arnold and/or Jota could return to face Real Madrid or Man City, Slot admitted it is “difficult to judge” at the moment.
“That is something that we have to wait and see,” he added.
“The last few days of recovery are tricky as they have to go from isolated training to group training, it’s difficult for me to judge.
“All I can say is that with Alisson and Jota I don’t expect them to be available for that game, Trent is in between.”
On Liverpool’s upcoming fixtures, he said: “We have an incredible fixture list coming up, starting with Southampton. That is the most important, the next one.
“The other two games have no effect on my team selection, but what does effect it is Southampton – how they play, how fit they are.”
