Liverpool duo Fabinho and Alisson expected to miss Watford clash due to Brazil game

Fabinho revealed he and Alisson are set to miss Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Watford due to international commitments with Brazil.

The Reds duo were part of Tite’s squad for October’s World Cup qualifying fixtures against Venezuela, Colombia and Uruguay, the latter of which will be played in the early hours of Friday morning in United Kingdom time.

Fabinho believes they will not have time to return from South America in time for Saturday when Liverpool face the Hornets in the league for the first time since losing 3-0 in February 2020, a result that ended their 44-game unbeaten run in the top flight.

“I believe that this first match against Watford, it will be very hard for us,” he told reporters in Brazil. “I don’t think we’ll play. Neither Alisson nor myself.

“The match against Uruguay will be Friday overnight there [in the UK] and the match against Watford is at 12:30pm [BST on Saturday].

“With all of what is involved with travel, I don’t know how much time we’ll have between one game and the other. I believe that we won’t be playing.”

.@TrentAA and @DiogoJota18 are expected to be available for our clash with Watford on Saturday

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 13, 2021

Fortunately for manager Jurgen Klopp, Tite opted to leave Roberto Firmino out of the Selecao squad, meaning he will be available for the trip to Vicarage Road as Liverpool look to make it 18 league games unbeaten.

Fabinho also revealed the club are considering flying him, along with Alisson, straight to Spain for their Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday to avoid the 10-day quarantine on their return to England.

“We will also need to quarantine, but the club is still studying whether it is better to go straight to Spain to play against Atletico and quarantine there, without staying in a hotel in England,” he continued.

Similar issues occurred in the previous international break, with Brazil calling for a domestic ban for their absent players when Premier League clubs agreed not to let them travel for matches amid concerns about the need to quarantine when they returned.

However, FIFA eventually confirmed South American stars could feature following September’s internationals.