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Liverpool have a full week to dust themselves down and refocus after losing against Fulham on Sunday.

The Reds had been expected to comfortably dispatch the Cottagers and move 14 points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Instead, Liverpool were punished for a poor performance with a 3-2 defeat.

Given they have an 11 point lead with just seven games left to play, the Reds are still heavy favourites to lift the Premier League trophy on May 25th.

However, it’s imperative that Liverpool do not slip up again when West Ham come to Anfield on Sunday.

One of the reasons the Reds were not able to get over the line against Fulham was the absence of first choice goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

And as Alisson faces a race against time to be fit for the weekend, Virgil van Dijk has offered a less than convincing update on his teammate.

Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images

Alisson’s injury history is part of the reason Liverpool decided to sign Giorgi Mamardashvili to rival him for the first choice spot next season.

The 32-year-old has now missed 10 Premier League matches this season and although Caoimhin Kelleher is an able deputy, he is not close to Alisson’s level.

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After the number one missed Wednesday’s win over Everton, it had been expected that he would replace Kelleher at Craven Cottage.

But, somewhat surprisingly, Alisson was not ready.

Arne Slot provided an update on Alisson prior to the game, and speaking via the Liverpool ECHO post-match, Van Dijk suggested there are no guarantees the goalkeeper will return to face West Ham.

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“Hopefully Alisson is back soon but these things are dangerous and the most important thing is for him to be healthy and he doesn’t have the green light yet if I’m correct,” said the captain.

“We wait for that and we’ll see.”

As well as an update from Van Dijk, the fallout from Sunday’s game also brought some comments from Slot on the current status of Alisson.

“Yes, he did [not pass the concussion protocol],” the Liverpool head coach told BBC Sport.

“There’s a week to go [until the next match] so that gives us a bit of time.”

“But you know as Liverpool we always follow the protocol in moments like this when it’s a concussion.

If you haven’t ticked all the boxes, he can’t be in goal.

“He wants it a lot but the protocol is the protocol.”

Fingers crossed Ali gets the all clear in time for Sunday and Liverpool can have the best goalkeeper in the world back between the sticks.
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