Alexis Mac Allister jets out amid Liverpool uncertainty

A difficult few months for Alexis Mac Allister has perhaps slipped under the radar.

The Liverpool No10 was of course a star of the club’s 2024/25 Premier League title-winning campaign. Mac Allister played 35 times in the top flight last season - scoring five times - but sat out the last two games of the campaign owing to injury.

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Arne Slot confirmed that his Argentine playmaker needed a long rest - meaning Macca missed a significant portion of preseason too.

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Although the 26-year-old has been back in the starting lineup this term - he has yet to finish any of the Premier League games he’s started.

Mac Allister dropped by Argentina

Furthermore, he was deemed unfit to take part in the second game of the season - against Newcastle - before being restored to the lineup for the win against Arsenal.

Following that game, Mac Allister was expected to jet straight out in order to link up with Argentina for their FIFA World Cup qualification double-header during the international window.

But a travelling hitch meant Macca missing his connecting flight to Buenos Aires - and he arrived too late to start the world champions’ game against Venezuela at the Estadio Monumental on Thursday night.

Coach Lionel Scaloni went with other options owing to Mac Allister’s rustiness and Argentina fared quite well without him - winning 3-0 in Lionel Messi’s home soil swansong.

Will Mac Allister keep his Liverpool place?

It could well be the start of a tricky spell for Mac Allister - whose status as a sure-fire midfield pick might be coming under threat for club and country. A lack of preseason rhythm means he is likely behind some teammates in terms of his form and fitness.

Ryan Gravenberch remains undroppable at the base of midfield while Florian Wirtz is not going to be shifted out of the lineup with the club having paid £116m for him.

It means that Mac Allister is likely competing with Dominik Szoboszlai - and to a lesser extent Curtis Jones - for a single midfield berth.

And given the way the Hungary captain has started this season - there is only going to be one winner there in the eyes of many Liverpool fans.

Szoboszlai in sensational form

Szoboszlai, 24, has been Arne Slot’s skeleton key so far this term - earning a Premier League player of the month nomination for August.

He’s done that while playing in that deeper midfield position as well as right-back. The £60m signing from RB Leipzig back in 2023 has been the Reds’ player of the season so far and it’s hard to envisage a lineup currently that doesn’t have him in it.

Of course choice is a great thing for the Liverpool coach.

Szoboszlai’s form - allied with Wirtz’s arrival - could push Mac Allister to new heights in the current campaign.

But first he needs match rhythm and then consistency. Otherwise his Liverpool starting place will come under even more scrutiny than it is right now.

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