Key Liverpool star set to return as 19-man squad named for Girona clash

Alisson Becker has been named in the travelling Liverpool squad to face Girona in the Champions League this week. The 32-year-old has been sidelined for two months with a hamstring injury and has missed the last 11 games across all competitions.

He has been stepping up his recovery over the last few weeks and is seemingly ready to return to the pitch, having been included in the 19-man squad to face Girona on Tuesday night.

Caoimhin Kelleher, who has deputised for Alisson during his absence, is also named in the travelling squad alongside third-choice goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros.

The most notable absentee is Alexis Mac Allister, who is serving a one-game suspension in the Champions League due to an accumulation of yellow cards. Tyler Morton does not travel due to injury while the trip also comes too soon for Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa.

It remains to be seen if Alisson will make his comeback against Girona or if Kelleher will continue between the sticks until at least the weekend, when Liverpool will host Fulham in the Premier League.

Alisson recently explained that it has taken him longer to recover due to the delicate nature of his injury, telling OneFootball: “My recovery is going very well. It has been seven weeks since the day of the injury.

“It was a tendon injury in the hamstring, so whenever it involves a tendon it is something more delicate. Since I had an injury a few days before, a couple of weeks before, it requires even greater care and longer recovery time.”

Speaking ahead of Liverpool’s scheduled game against Everton, which was postponed due to bad weather, Arne Slot confirmed that he was expecting Alisson to return sooner rather than later.

“Not ready yet, but he will be ready very soon,” said the Liverpool boss. “[The midfield line] is not our main worry at the moment, our main worry is if you look at how close they are all back of [having] playing time, there’s only three injuries left.

“With Diogo [Jota] being close to being back, Federico [Chiesa] being close to being back and the same for Alisson. That means only Ibou [Konate], Conor [Bradley] and Kostas [Tsimikas] are a bit further away from playing time.”

Liverpool are currently top of the Champions League table, having won all five of their league phase matches while conceding just one goal. They will be hoping to maintain their solid form with another victory over Girona, who are ninth in La Liga.