Alisson Becker, Conor Bradley, Wataru Endō and Giovanni Leoni remain sidelined for Saturday’s match, with the defensive unit remaining under stress over the course of the season.
On Alisson, the head coach is optimistic about his return soon, though not at the weekend: “Now we don’t get a player back yet but Alisson is working hard to find his way back into the squad, so that’s really positive. But he will not be in the squad this weekend yet.”
Arne Slot has concerns, too, about the availability of
both Jeremie Frimpong and Joe Gomez — both of his available right backs.
In positive news, the return of Alexander Isak is certainly a bit of a bright spot amidst the gloom, with the striker getting 15 minutes in Paris.
“That Alex is available for us again is vital of course because I said many times over here that it was hard for us to convert the chances into goals and he’s been a goalscorer his whole life now. We did not get a chance against Paris but in all the other games we’ve had many chances.
“So to have him back is really nice. It was only 15 minutes but it’s good to have him back. Hopefully we can progress those minutes and he can grow to his form as soon as possible.
“The last time of course it took him a while – which is completely normal – but now we are hoping that after the great rehab he already had, with the people we are having in rehab, that we can bring him faster to the level we want him to be at.”
He should get some minutes against Fulham as we hope his form returns rapidly for the run-in.
