Argentine media make worrying Alexis Mac Allister claim

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Alexis Mac Allister has faced a challenging start to the 2025–26 season.

The Liverpool midfielder missed Argentina’s commanding 3-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Venezuela due to significant travel disruptions.

Originally scheduled to fly directly from Amsterdam to Argentina via KLM, technical issues forced him to reroute through Paris, arriving late on Tuesday and severely limiting his preparation time with the national squad.

This absence comes amid ongoing fitness concerns following an injury that sidelined him during the final matches of Liverpool’s previous season.

Although Mac Allister returned to training in late July, he skipped most of the preseason friendlies and has only gradually regained match fitness.

His struggles were also evident in Liverpool’s early Premier League fixtures; he missed the 3-2 win at Newcastle after withdrawing from training due to fitness issues and was substituted after 60 minutes against Arsenal, indicating he has yet to reach full fitness.

Argentina have already qualified for the World Cup, and despite manager Lionel Scaloni admitting that Mac Allister was not 100% ready to start – the Liverpool man played the full 90 minutes in last night’s 1-0 defeat to Ecuador.

And according to Argentine media, the Liverpool man looked “physically diminished”.

BolaVP gave him a 4/10 and wrote: “He was physically diminished, as he was not 100% and could not make the difference in the midfield?

Towards the end of the match he had a tense exchange with Piero Hincapié.”

Meanwhile, La Nacion also gave the Liverpool No.10 a 4/10 and commented:

“In a system with Lautaro [Martinez] as the sole striker, Alexis started as an enganche (playmaker), a position he’s familiar with but doesn’t frequently occupy for the national team.”

“He couldn’t be a key player in the passing circuit; the ball rarely passed through his feet.”

“He dropped back when Argentina were reduced to 10 men and moved into the No

5 role after De Paul’s departure.”

“Argentina missed his aggressive passing and pace in getting into the box.”

It is not the best news for Reds fans to receive overnight, as fixatures are going to start coming thick and fast now that cup competitions are getting underway.

Liverpool return to action against Burnley at Turf Moor this Sunday, with kick-off set for 14:00 BST.

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