Alexis Mac Allister is yet to reach full fitness this season and the midfielder’s form has suffered as a result, but Liverpool are relaxed over the situation.
Mac Allister is expected to start for Argentina in their friendly against Puerto Rico on Tuesday night, which has sparked further concerns over his game time.
After missing the end of the last campaign and the majority of pre-season, the 26-year-old has appeared slower and less physically effective than usual.
But Liverpool harbour no long-term fears over their No. 10 and believe he will be back up to speed after the current international break.
That is according to The Athletic‘s James Pearce, who explains that the situation is seen as similar to that of Alexander Isak, who spent pre-season training individually as he forced his £125 million move from Newcastle.
Pearce writes that Mac Allister’s recovery has taken “longer than expected” but Liverpool are confident he will “kick on” in the upcoming fixtures.
Speaking last month, Arne Slot explained the approach to Isak’s own ‘mini pre-season’ and the belief that he will be up to speed after Sweden duty.
“We got him not in the best circumstances in terms of match fitness, so we have to build it up,” the head coach said.
“The downside to that is that you cannot play a player 90 minutes, and if you only play him 45 or 30 or again like today 45, it might then normally take a while before he scores his first goal.
“The best [will be] when he comes back hopefully from the Swedish national team, when he stayed fit, played there many minutes, plays for us in the upcoming weeks a few minutes.
“Then I think after that, then his pre-season has ended and we can expect even more from him. But until now I’m very happy with what I’ve seen from him.”
Mac Allister’s struggle to influence games
Mac Allister has still started every game in which he has been available for Liverpool in this season’s Premier League, only missing the 3-2 win at Newcastle with a minor muscle problem.
He has come off the bench in both Champions League fixtures as well as in the Community Shield, with the only game he was fully rested for being the Carabao Cup victory over Southampton.
However he is yet to play 90 minutes for Liverpool and the only time he has completed a full game since April was in Argentina’s 1-0 defeat to Ecuador last month.
That has only fed the inconsistency in terms of his form, with Mac Allister clearly not yet trusted to play a full game.
Liverpool will hope that improves after the international break, though with the midfielder not set to travel back to Merseyside until Wednesday he is likely to be named on the bench for Sunday’s visit of Man United.
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