Former England international Owen Hargreaves says if Alisson’s injury keeps him out for six weeks or more, that could be the title race over already, even at this stage of the season.
Speaking to Premier League Productions, via the Daily Express, Hargreaves said: “That’s not a good one, that injury what happened. That’s going to take some time [to heal].
“He just goes to kick it and he just feels it. He looks back and he thinks somebody’s thrown something from the crowd, it’s just popped. It doesn’t look good.
“If he’s out for six weeks that could change the title race, or will change the title race. It looks [like] a muscle injury and I just hope it’s three weeks rather than six.
“If it’s three weeks they’re still in the title race. I think at six that could change the title race, he’s that good. He’s great and he keeps you in a game and he’s a good shot-stopper.
“I don’t think he gets enough credit for the saves that he makes and his feet are exceptional as well.”
At this stage, it is unclear how long Alisson will be missing for, made more complicated by the fact that he has never had an injury longer than a week or so in his career, so there is no way of knowing how long he will take to heal.
The Reds will give him all the time he needs to avoid a recurrence, but that will take time and patience.
🗣️ "Jurgen Klopp was quiet about the length of the injury"@MattAddison97 explained that Liverpool are in the unknown when it comes to knowing how long Alisson is going to be out for.#LFC
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📲 Listen – https://t.co/XWhRQh9myF pic.twitter.com/9nyi5aGPLl— Love Sport Radio (@lovesportradio) August 13, 2019
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In the absence of the Brazilian, Adrian did a decent job against Chelsea last night, including becoming the penalty shootout hero. He did give away a penalty during extra-time, but there did not appear to be any contact on Tammy Abraham, so it was a harsh call.
The Spaniard will play once again at the weekend as the Reds take on Southampton in the league on Saturday.
Hopefully, in the next week or so, a more concrete timeline on the length of time that Alisson will be missing for will be provided. He was, though, wearing a protective boot as he watched the game on television.
Hate to be a party pooper but Alisson has a cast boot on 💔 pic.twitter.com/m8Ub48K2rf
— Nees (@Nees_MM) August 14, 2019
Even with Adrian in goal for a sustained period of a month or more, the title race is far from over. We hope, of course, that Alisson is back as soon as possible, but Manchester City will not have already won the league if he’s not. It’s way too early in the season to make sort of a call.