GOALKEEPER ALISSON BECKER will miss Liverpool’s Premier League fixture at home to Bournemouth on Saturday and next week’s Champions League last-16 second leg with Atlético Madrid.
The Brazilian injured his hip in training prior to Liverpool’s FA Cup defeat to Chelsea, with Reds boss Jurgen Klopp confirming he will be back “after the international break 100%”, but won’t feature as the European champions attempt to overturn a 1-0 deficit when they host La Liga outfit Atletico at Anfield next Wednesday.
In better news, however, Klopp confirmed captain Jordan Henderson — notable in his absence during the Reds’ poor recent run of form — is in contention to line out against Atletico, albeit he won’t quite make Saturday afternoon’s clash with Bournemouth.
“Unfortunately Ali is out,” said Jürgen Klopp at his pre-match press conference ahead of Bournemouth’s visit to Merseyside.
“He had a little incident in training before the Chelsea game. We all thought it was nothing and it was clear he would not play anyway. The plan was he was on the bench.
“There, we thought, ‘Come on, we don’t have to take any risks’, so left him out of the squad. [There was a] scan the next day and they found something. So now he is out. We will see – next week [out], for sure, and then we will see.”
On the specific nature of the injury, Klopp added: “Muscle, slight, in the hip region. A small muscle. You [the reporters] could all do your work still but a professional goalkeeper is slightly different. That’s the situation.”
Asked to clarify as to whether the 27-year-old had a chance of being ruled fit in time for Atletico’s visit, Klopp replied: “No, next week not [available].
“I don’t want to say no [for the Merseyside derby] but I don’t know if he will be available. He is not available for the next week, not for tomorrow and not the next week.
“Then we have to judge the situation new. I would say after the international break he is back 100%. Whatever we can get before that, we will see.”
Klopp confirmed that Naby Keita has returned to training and when asked if captain Henderson has a chance of lining out for next week’s crunch clash with Diego Simeone’s men, he replied: “Yeah. But not for Bournemouth.”
