Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has confirmed when goalkeeper Alisson Becker will make his return from injury.
The 32-year-old has missed each of Liverpool's last 10 games across all competitions with a hamstring injury sustained towards the end of a 1-0 Premier League win at Crystal Palace on October 5.
Caoimhin Kelleher has impressed between the sticks in Alisson's absence, keeping five clean sheets and helping the Reds win nine and draw one of their last 10 games, including four successive Premier League triumphs.
Liverpool, who beat wounded rivals Manchester City 2-0 at Anfield last weekend, will endeavour to maintain or extend their nine-point lead at the top of the table when they travel to St James' Park to face 11th-placed Newcastle United on Wednesday night.
Ahead of the match, Slot has issued an update on the fitness of his squad and has revealed when Alisson is set to make his first-team comeback.
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Alisson to return "before the end of December"
"I think I've been clear a few weeks ago on what my position is about our goalkeepers," Slot said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"We are just waiting for the moment Alisson is completely fit because Caoimhin is doing too well to put Alisson in goal if he's only at 50%. That wouldn't be good for Alisson and it wouldn't be good for the team.
"He's getting there. It might take a few extra days, but he's getting closer and closer. Like I've always send, the end phase of rehab is always the period where you wonder if he is really there or if he needs a few extra days.
"But he will be in goal before the end of December if things continue like they are now."
Slot added: "I feel I always have big decisions to make in every lineup I have to name, so if you look at our last game against City, I didn't play Darwin [Nunez], I didn't play Curtis [Jones], I didn't play Wataru [Endo], I didn't play Harvey Elliott.
"It's always big decisions you have to make as manager of Liverpool because we have so many quality players."
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Slot "impressed" with Liverpool defence despite injury struggles
Slot has also discussed Liverpool's strengths in defence despite their recent injury struggles, with the Merseysiders currently coping without Ibrahima Konate (knee), Conor Bradley (hamstring) and Kostas Tsimikas (ankle), while Trent Alexander-Arnold has only just returned from a hamstring problem.
"You tell me we've got the best defence because we've conceded the least goals, so that doesn't mean we have the best defence; we have 11 players who work really hard to not concede a goal," said the Dutchman.
"But I agree our last line has impressed this season because, every time they have to defend, they are there, as well as our goalkeeper.
"So if we'd had this amount of injuries in another line [midfield, attack] that would have worried me as well, especially as I knew we have nine games coming up this month. To go into the month with only five defenders is not ideal, but it's part of everyone's season.
"Whenever you have got some injuries in a certain line, it is always a bit of a worry, but I trust the players we have now to do everything they can to stay fit and we have to take smart decisions as well to keep them available for this month because you cannot have a month where you don't have results as then they [other clubs] will be back."
Meanwhile, Slot has confirmed that Federico Chiesa has returned to training after stepping up his recovery from an unspecified problem, but Wednesday's game may come too soon for the attacker, while Diogo Jota (rib) is closing in on a return but is not expected to feature against Newcastle.
Oliver Thomas
