Liverpool lose Alisson but get Salah back, and the season is already tilting
The news landed like a blindside challenge. One of those you never see coming, even when you think you’re planted firmly. Liverpool now have to face PSG without their Brazilian wall. Alisson Becker is still stuck in the treatment room, and that drags a whole Champions League quarter-final into the mess. Not quite the script Arne Slot wanted as the season hits its sharpest turn.
Alisson out, and it hurts
The Dutch boss confirmed it on Friday in his press conference, ahead of the trip to Manchester City in the FA Cup. The verdict was blunt: Alisson, still nursing the muscle issue he picked up against Galatasaray, will miss the first leg against Paris and probably the return as well. It’s a gut punch, especially when you remember his masterclass at the Parc last year. Nine saves, a surreal night, and a 1 0 that felt like a robbery with the paperwork done properly.
Without him, Liverpool will have to improvise, patch things up and hope the stand-in catches fire. Because you don’t replace Alisson like you swap a bulb. He’s safety, insurance, calm in the chaos. And next Wednesday, in a Parc des Princes ready to kick off, the Reds will have to cope without their safety net.
Salah returns, and the mood flips fast
Thankfully for Liverpool fans, the press conference wasn’t just a grim reading of the injury list. The good news, the real stuff, the sort that lifts a dressing room, is Mohamed Salah’s return. He was also hurt against Galatasaray, but Slot says the Egyptian is now “available”. He could even feature this weekend against City. Anfield breathes out. Opponents, not so much.
At this stage of the season, getting Salah back is like finding your phone charger at 3% battery. You know he can switch the whole thing back on. And the City-PSG double header needs exactly that sort of spark.
Isak, Frimpong and the race to manage bodies
The injury list is starting to clear up too. Alexander Isak, who fractured his fibula in December, has returned to full training, but Slot poured cold water on any hype: too soon to start him. Fair enough, given the risk of forcing the issue. Liverpool will need him, just not yet, and not until goals start to matter even more.
As for Jeremie Frimpong, he’s coming off a knock with the Netherlands. Nothing serious, but caution is mandatory. He could be rested in the Cup. This run of games won’t forgive sloppy load management.
Liverpool between two worlds
Right now, it feels like a tightrope act. On one side, Alisson’s absence weakens the defensive plan. On the other, Salah’s return brings back threat, confidence and ideas. The staff are walking a line between caution and necessity. Every game is a final, every call a gamble. And Europe waits for no one.
This Slot-era Liverpool are moving without certainty, but never without fight. At the Parc on Wednesday, and then through this brutal month of April, we’ll find out if this side has the backbone to turn setbacks into fuel. Football loves a comeback story. This one’s just getting started.
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