Liverpool face Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-final with several players expected to miss out because of injury
Arne Slot and Mohamed Salah during a Liverpool game
Arne Slot delivered a Mohamed Salah injury update before Man City vs Liverpool in the FA Cup on Saturday(Image: (Peter Byrne/PA Wire))
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Arne Slot has issued some huge Liverpool injury updates before the FA Cup quarter-final away to Manchester City. Fitness concerns particularly surrounded four players from both before and during the international break, with hope of a return for Alexander Isak over the next few weeks increasing after Slot's update.
He said on Friday: "It will definitely be too fast to expect him in the starting line-up. He trained with us yesterday for the first time, and today, for the second time after exactly 101 days. So, it will take a bit of time... we will make sure we do the right thing in terms of building him up."
Mohamed Salah is one player who could be involved from the off at Etihad Stadium after Slot delivered a positive update after he missed the defeat to Brighton and international duty with Egypt.
The Liverpool head coach said: "He is [fit]. He trained with us yesterday, he will train with us today and is available for the game tomorrow."
It was also good news on Federico Chiesa and Jeremie Frimpong after their exploits with Italy and the Netherlands, respectively. The former returned to Liverpool early while Frimpong was taken off within 13 minutes of coming on against Ecuador because of a potential injury, but Slot confirmed that both players trained on Thursday.
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The 47-year-old was unable to provide a positive update on Alisson, however, with the goalkeeper set to miss Liverpool's next four games at the very least with a hamstring injury.
Slot said: "He will not be part of the Paris Saint-Germain games as well. He will be out for a bit longer. Towards the end of the season, we expect him to be fit again."
Alisson had only just returned from a small absence but is now back on the sidelines with several other long-term Liverpool injury absentees. Taking to the social media platform X on Friday afternoon, he offered an update of his own, writing: "I didn't suffer a new injury. I'm in the treatment phase, and the plan is to be in full playing condition by the end of April!"
Wataru Endo, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni have all undergone surgery this season with none of the trio expected back this season.
Alisson during a Liverpool game
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson is set to miss the next few weeks with a hamstring injury
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Pep Guardiola has far fewer injury concerns on his mind ahead of the FA Cup clash between Liverpool and City. Josko Gvardiol is their only confirmed long-term injury absentee with fellow defenders John Stones and Ruben Dias also dealing with issues.
The latter missed the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal because of a hamstring injury but having had several weeks off, he could feature in Saturday's squad.
There are more doubts over John Stones following his withdrawal from the England squad earlier this week. Thomas Tuchel issued an injury verdict following his return to Man City.
He said: "John was gutted he had this minor incident, not a big injury. Given the history, we had to be careful; it made no sense to push him through and try stuff that could make it worse."