Alisson could return to Liverpool against Girona in the Champions League at Montilivi on Tuesday night after Arne Slot confirmed he is ready to start again.

The Brazilian goalkeeper has not played since injuring his thigh against Crystal Palace in early October. But on Monday morning he completed training, flew with the team to Spain and Liverpool’s head coach suggested he could start, saying the difference he was making “speaks for itself”, even if it is difficult is to improve his performance deputy Caoimhín Kelleher in the last two months. Slot also said he would choose as strong a team as possible, even if Liverpool have a five-point lead to qualify directly for the round of 16 of the restructured Champions League.

“So happy to be back,” Alisson wrote on social media as he boarded the plane to Girona.

When asked if Alisson was available to start the game, Slot replied: “Yes, he is. If you can play with Alisson, who has been so outstanding for Liverpool and the Brazilian national team for so many years, then that really speaks for itself. It’s nice to have him back and available. But when you look at how his successor did, it’s not easy to do better. Caoimhín performed so well that we can say we have two great goalkeepers who can both do the job for us. (Alisson) has been so outstanding for so many years, so we expect him to do the same in the next few months.”

Despite Alisson’s injury, Liverpool have gone more than seven hours without conceding a goal in the Champions League, moving closer to a club record in Europe. “Maybe it has to do with the (competition) setup, but it definitely has to do with the quality,” Slot said. “The goalkeepers did so well: Caoimhín and also Alisson, who played two games. But it’s not just the back line and the goalkeepers.”

The Liverpool head coach said he would continue to field his strongest team with the intention of finishing in the top eight, qualifying as the top seed and avoiding an extra playoff round, although he admitted the practical implications of that approach were still being played be uncertain. The benefits to Liverpool’s title hunt are also uncertain, with Slot betting on Arsenal and Manchester City also finishing in the top eight. The postponement of the Merseyside derby, which the coach described as a “good decision” because it is a special game and the last one (at Goodison) has to be played in good circumstances, also means there is less urgency to rest players.

“Everyone is fit, rotation is not necessary as we missed Saturday. Like all other games tomorrow, we will start with a very good team,” said Slot. “Of course it seems good to get into the top eight, but we can (only) make a judgment at the end of the season. We try to land as high as possible to skip the next round. If that means always playing in the starting XI and then getting a difficult draw, maybe we’ll think about it differently next season. We’ll have to see where it takes us. But we want to stay in the top eight so we think we need another win and the first chance to do that is tomorrow night.

“That could be (an advantage in the league to avoid two extra European games), but if we finish in the top eight I expect they will do it too,” Slot said. “Arsenal 95%. City may need to do a bit more but they can win three in a row so they will be in the top eight. You never know if it’s an advantage.

“We played very well all three days: maybe we should have a few friendlies if we qualify (directly for the round of 16). No, that’s a joke. We are working hard to get into the top eight to achieve the best possible placement, but definitely also to skip this round.”