Arne Slot points finger at fixture scheduling as Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow ahead of Chelsea clash | OneFootball

The Reds will be without their first-choice goalkeeper as they welcome Chelsea on Sunday in the heavyweight Premier League clash

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has hinted that the quick fixture turnaround is the reason for Alisson Becker’s latest injury setback.

The Brazil international injured his hamstring during the Reds' 1-0 win over Crystal Palace almost a fortnight ago and was forced to come off in the second-half.

As a result, he will miss this weekend's huge clash at home to Chelsea and isn't expected to return until after next month's international break which means he will also sit out games against the likes of RB Leipzig, Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen and Aston Villa.

Now, this isn't the first time Alisson has suffered an injury this season. He was sidelined with a thigh problem against Bournemouth and the Carabao Cup third round win over West Ham United last month, but this time around Slot has suggested a fixture pile-up is partially to blame.

Three days prior to their 12:30pm kick-off at Selhurst Park, Liverpool were in UEFA Champions League action at home to Bologna and the Dutchman has revealed that this short turnaround ultimately increases the risk of injury.

"It's uncommon for goalkeepers," Slot said during the pre-match press conference. "At Feyenoord I had the same with my goalkeeper, getting muscles injuries. We are looking into it and what the reasons are. If you get one the chances of another go up so we have tried to be careful.

Alisson Becker sustained a hamstring injury during Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace

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"But also it's a good chance to explain again, there were some things about me not disliking 12:30 kick-offs but if you play Wednesday evening, it might be disadvantage to play 12:30pm after Champions League game...the chances for injury go up.

"We need to take this into consideration. You cannot change all 11 players but in retrospect I might have chose Caoimh [Kelleher] over Ali. In Holland, I am 99.9% sure the Champions League teams get extra rest to prepare. That is not common here in England."

In Alisson's place, Caoimhin Kelleher - a more than capable understudy - is set to start in between the posts against Chelsea. This will be the Republic of Ireland international's third appearance of the season across all competitions as he looks set for an extended run in the team.