Liverpool injury hint about to be dropped on player who has become undroppable

Alexis Mac Allister has been excellent this season for Liverpool but a nervous wait now greets the Reds after a groin injury at Crystal Palace

Liverpool injury hint about to be dropped on player who quietly has become undroppable

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If Ryan Gravenberch has been the star of the show so far in Liverpool's midfield, Alexis Mac Allister is surely the leading contender for best supporting actor this term. That the Argentina international's enduring class has been less eye-catching than the form of Gravenberch alongside him has largely been down to just how transformed a player the Netherlands international has looked with regular minutes in the No.6 position.

And while Gravenberch has now added a September player-of-the-month gong to growing collection of man-of-the-match awards, the excellence of Mac Allister next to him should not be underestimated when Liverpool's superb start to the campaign is discussed.

The understated, intelligent displays have been less explosive than Gravenberch, particularly given the Dutchman is a player who wasn't playing anywhere near as regularly last term.

The former Ajax youngster, for example, has already completed more than double the number of 90-minute games he played for the last two terms at Bayern Munich and Liverpool.

But if the silky Gravenberch has been one of the most exciting aspects of Liverpool's excellent start to the campaign, the subtle Mac Allister has allowed his colleague to flourish further. It's why the injury scare suffered during the Crystal Palace game on Saturday has come at an inopportune time.

A two-week break for international fixtures perhaps gives Mac Allister a fighting chance to declare his fitness for the Premier League's return, when Chelsea visit on October 20, but the wait will be an anxious one for supporters, particularly as they face up to the realisation that Alisson Becker will almost certainly miss that clash with a hamstring complaint.

Mac Allister himself didn't sound too concerned on his social media on Saturday evening when he posted: “I felt a slight discomfort during the game, but nothing that will stop me. Now fully focused on what’s ahead.”

And Arne Slot was unable to offer anything close to a timescale on his midfielder's issue, telling his post-match press conference: “How bad it is, that’s difficult for me to judge at this moment. He could have continued playing as you saw because it didn’t happen one second before half-time.

“But he felt it a bit too much and said he doesn’t think it’s too good to keep on playing because you never know, he might make it worse. What is the exact situation – can he go to Argentina, can he go and play over there? That’s difficult for me to tell you now. His injury is in the groin area.”

It's unclear at this stage if Mac Allister intends to go on international duty for the world champions, when they meet Venezuela and Bolivia and even those searching for clues at Selhurst Park after Saturday's game were unable to shed any further light on the situation.

While many of those involved for their countries could be seen exiting the stadium with suitcases in tow to fly out directly for duty, including Mohamed Salah, Mac Allister, who was replaced by Dominik Szoboszlai after 45 minutes, was nowhere to be seen, making it unclear if he intends to declare himself fit for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

It's worth asking what exactly Slot would want from the situation the former Brighton star finds himself in. Would Liverpool's head coach prefer Mac Allister to be fit enough to report for Argentina duty for the next fortnight? Or does he want the midfielder to remain on Merseyside for treatment on the groin issue?

Flying out for la Albiceleste action would at least indicate the problem is not considered a serious one, but being able to have Mac Allister in for further treatment at the AXA Training Centre would be beneficial to his recovery with that Chelsea game in mind. It's quite the conundrum for a player whose importance is only growing at Anfield.

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