Both Arne Slot and Pep Guardiola have given injury updates ahead of Manchester City vs Liverpool in the FA Cup

Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have been given significant Liverpool injury updates ahead of the FA Cup quarter-final clash at the Etihad Stadium. The visitors had fitness doubts about four players, both before and throughout the international break, with optimism growing over Alexander Isak’s return in the coming weeks following Slot’s latest assessment.

Speaking on Friday, he said: “It will definitely be too fast to expect him in the starting line-up. 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… we will make sure we do the right thing in terms of building him up.”

Mohamed Salah is among those who could feature from the off at the Etihad Stadium, with Slot offering an encouraging update after the Egyptian missed both the defeat to Brighton and international duty.

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The Liverpool boss said: “He is [fit]. He trained with us yesterday, he will train with us today and is available for the game tomorrow.”

There was further positive news regarding Federico Chiesa and Jeremie Frimpong following their respective stints with Italy and the Netherlands.

Chiesa returned to Liverpool ahead of schedule, while Frimpong was withdrawn just 13 minutes after coming on against Ecuador due to a potential injury concern. However, Slot confirmed both players were back in training on Thursday.

The 47-year-old was unable to offer encouraging news on Alisson, however, with the shot-stopper set to sit out Liverpool’s next four fixtures at minimum with a hamstring problem.

Slot said: “He will not be part of the Paris Saint-Germain games as well. He will be out for a bit longer. Towards the end of the season, we expect him to be fit again.”

Alisson had only recently come back from a brief spell out but is now sidelined once more alongside several other long-term Liverpool injury casualties.

Taking to social media platform X on Friday afternoon, he shared his own update, writing: “I didn’t suffer a new injury. I’m in the treatment phase, and the plan is to be in full playing condition by the end of April!”

Wataru Endo, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni have all gone under the knife this campaign with none of the trio anticipated to return before the season’s conclusion.

Guardiola has considerably fewer fitness worries ahead of the FA Cup encounter between Liverpool and City. Josko Gvardiol remains their only confirmed long-term injury casualty with fellow centre-backs John Stones and Ruben Dias also nursing concerns.

The latter sat out the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal due to a hamstring injury but having enjoyed several weeks’ rest, he could be included in Saturday’s matchday squad.

Greater uncertainty surrounds Stones following his withdrawal from the England squad earlier this week. Thomas Tuchel delivered a fitness update after his return to Man City.

He explained: “John was gutted he had this minor incident, not a big injury. Given the history, we had to be careful; it made no sense to push him through and try stuff that could make it worse.”