Arne Slot admits Alisson has a difficult task on his hands as the Liverpool goalkeeper prepares for his comeback in the Champions League away game against Girona on Wednesday.

The Brazilian will return to the starting lineup after a two-month break due to a thigh injury. Caoimhin Kelleher has performed admirably in his absence, but the head coach has always insisted that Alisson would be recalled once he was fully fit.

“I think it speaks for itself when you can play with Alisson, who has been so outstanding for this club and for the Brazilian national team for so many years,” said Slot.

“It’s definitely nice to have him available again. But if you look at how his successor did, it won’t be easy to do better. We definitely expect the same or slightly better margins.

“Caoimhin played so well that we can say we have two very good goalkeepers. Just like we did with the left wingers (Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo).

“Alisson has provided such outstanding services for this club for so many years that we expect and hope that he will do the same for us in the coming weeks and months.”

The trip to Spain came too soon for striker Diogo Jota, who trained with the team in Kirkby on Monday to further his recovery.

Federico Chiesa is also out through illness, while Tyler Morton, Ibrahima Konate, Kostas Tsimikas and Conor Bradley are out injured.

Alexis Mac Allister is serving a one-match ban after picking up three yellow cards in the Champions League so far this season.

Slot believes common sense prevailed in the decision to postpone last Saturday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison and that Liverpool’s inactivity over the weekend means he does not feel the need to give the players a rest against Girona.

“I think it was a very good decision to cancel the game to protect everyone,” he added.

“When you play a special game like the last one at Goodison Park then it should be played in good circumstances. Now we can play it under good circumstances. For safety reasons it was a good choice.

“Everyone is really fit now. There is no reason to change from the last game and we have three days until the next game. We will start like all other games with a really good team.”

Liverpool are at the top of the Champions League with five wins out of five. A place in the top eight could see them bypass the home-and-away play-off round in February and go straight into the round of 16 of this season’s revamped competition.

Slot said: “At the end of the season you can best judge whether it is helpful to get into the top eight or helpful to be number one.”

“Obviously getting into the top eight seems to be very helpful. If you play your starters almost every time like we have done so far, you will need the results to try and skip the next round. We want to stay in the top eight and believe we need another win. This is the first chance to get that.”

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