Alisson back in Liverpool squad for Girona clash

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has confirmed goalkeeper Alisson Becker is fit to start Tuesday night’s Champions League clash with Girona after spending more than two months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.

Alisson has been unavailable since Oct. 5 when he was forced off in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.

“He is fit,” Slot said in a Monday news conference when asked about the goalkeeper. “It speaks for itself if you can play with Alisson, who has been so outstanding for this club for so many years and the Brazil national team.

“It is definitely nice to have him back and to have him available but if you look at how his replacement did, it is not going to easy to do it even better so we expect definitely the same and maybe on margins a bit better but Caoimhín [Kelleher] did so well so we can say we have two great goalkeepers who can do the job for us.

“But for so many years Alisson has been so outstanding for the club that we are expecting him to do the same in the upcoming weeks and months.”

Republic of Ireland international Caoimhín Kelleher deputised admirably in the 32-year-old’s absence, though he did make a costly error in last week’s 3-3 draw with Newcastle United.

Slot had previously confirmed that Alisson would be reinstated in goal when he is fit, and the Liverpool boss could hand the Brazil international a start at the Estadi Montilivi as his team look to continue their flawless record in the Champions League.

Alisson trained with the first team on Monday afternoon before flying with the squad to Spain. The goalkeeper shared a photo of himself onboard the flight on his Instagram story with the caption: “So happy to be back.”

Diogo Jota, who has been absent since Liverpool’s win over Chelsea on Oct. 20, also trained with the team on Monday but hasn’t been included in the 19-man squad, while fellow forward Federico Chiesa misses out through illness.