Liverpool without 4 players vs Man City as Arne Slot shares Alexander Isak and Mo Salah updates

The Reds head to the Etihad on Saturday looking to book their place in the last four of the FA Cup, but Arne Slot has confirmed they will have to manage without one of their key players

Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak are available to play some part against Manchester City, Arne Slot has confirmed

Four Liverpool players will miss the FA Cup quarter-final at Manchester City on Saturday, but Arne Slot has confirmed that a further four will be available.

The Reds head to the Etihad in their first match since the March international break, one that could prove significant for the 2025/26 season and Slot’s long-term future.

The FA Cup offers Liverpool’s best chance of collecting silverware this term, with the Champions League the only other viable avenue available. A tough midweek trip to Paris awaits, a journey that will feel particularly arduous if Liverpool has already been dumped out of one cup competition.

But the chances of progression in either tournament have been dealt a blow by news of Alisson’s injury setback.

Slot revealed in Friday’s press conference that the goalkeeper will miss the City and PSG matches, adding he expects Alisson to be back “towards the end of the season”.

The 33-year-old posted an update on social media later on Friday, explaining that he has not suffered a fresh injury, but is dealing with an ongoing problem, and hopes to be back at the end of April.

Alisson will not be available until the end of April, the goalkeeper has confirmed

Alisson joins an injury list that contains long-term absentees Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni and Wataru Endo.

However, Alexander Isak’s name has been removed from that group. The Swedish striker has not played since December due to a broken leg, but he has twice taken part in full training this week, and Slot said Isak may be able to play “a few minutes” on Saturday.

“It will definitely be too fast to expect him in the starting line-up,” said the Liverpool head coach. He trained with us yesterday for the first time and today for the second time after exactly 101 days.

"So, it will take a bit of time to give him a lot of minutes. We will make sure we do the right thing in terms of building him up in minutes, but it’s a very good thing to have him on the training ground again.”

Isak trained this week ahead of the City fixture(Image: Getty Images)

Slot added that Mohamed Salah, Jeremie Frimpong and Federico Chiesa are also available.

Salah missed the trip to Brighton before the international break with a knock and did not meet up with the Egypt squad. However, he has recovered during the two-week hiatus and begins his farewell Liverpool tour on Saturday.

Frimpong and Chiesa did travel with their national sides, but encountered difficulties. The former played just 13 minutes across the Netherlands’ two games and was replaced with a knock in Tuesday’s draw against Ecuador.

Meanwhile, Chiesa was “deemed unavailable” by the Italian national team following his first call-up in nearly two years. He returned to Liverpool and did not feature as the Azzurri again missed out on a World Cup spot.

Both trained with Liverpool earlier this week and are available to take on City.