An early look at the latest injury news for Liverpool and Chelsea ahead of their match post-international break.
The Premier League action will take a short break while focus shifts to international duty. A total of 18 Liverpool players have been called up to represent their countries, including summer signing Giorgio Mamardashvili, who will rejoin his Georgia teammates against Ukraine and Albania in the Nations League.
The Reds enter the break at the top of the table but competition is heating up and their next opponents will be an in form Chelsea. Enzo Maresca’s side are unbeaten in their last seven games across all competitions and Cole Palmer has been causing rivals a lot of grief, so Liverpool will need to be sharp in defence as well as going forwards.
Both sides are carrying some injury concerns so we’ve taken an early look at their latest fitness updates and who will or won’t be available for the Anfield clash on October 20th.
Liverpool injury news
Liverpool’s latest injury blow came when Alisson was forced off against Crystal Palace with a suspected hamstring injury. Arne Slot has confirmed the nature of the problem and he ‘doesn’t expect’ the Brazilian to feature against Chelsea. His recovery is going to take ‘a few weeks’.
Harvey Elliott remains out of contention after fracturing his foot and while there is no specified return date yet, he could be available later this month.
Alexis Mac Allister was also taken off against Palace due to a groin injury and Slot admitted it was ‘difficult to judge’ the severity of the problem. The midfielder has linked up with Argentina but Lionel Scaloni has issued the update that Mac Allister ‘not not been able to train’ and he is doubtful for the national team’s fixtures.
Federico Chiesa is another doubt after missing the Palace game but Slot does not expect him to be out for a long period of time. Meanwhile, Caoimhin Kelleher missed the most recent clash due to illness but has been called up to the Republic of Ireland squad and is expected to start against Finland, so he should be fine to fill in for Alisson upon return.
Out: Alisson, Harvey Elliott
Doubts: Federico Chiesa, Alexis Mac Allister
Chelsea injury news
Reece James remains Chelsea’s frustrating long-term absentee as he continues to recover from a hamstring problem. The last update from the Blues camp was that there is ‘no real update’ on the defender at the moment. Summer signing Omari Kellyman is also out and looking at a potential return around November or December time, according to GiveMeSport.
Chelsea will also be without Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana, who both picked up their fifth yellow cards of the season against Nottingham Forest.
Carney Chukwuemeka was ruled out of the clash with Gent due to illness but was also absent from the Nottingham Forest game but he is expected to return in time for Liverpool. Levi Colwill and Noni Madueke were both brought off against Forest but the duo have been named in the England national squad so there doesn’t seem to be any major concerns there.
Out: Marc Cucurella (suspended), Wesley Fofana (suspended), Reece James, Omari Kellyman
Doubt: Carney Chukwuemeka
