Alexis Mac Allister is fit and available again ahead of Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Bolivia, with more details reported on the midfielder’s injury.
Mac Allister effectively sat out of Argentina’s first game of the October break, spending the night as an unused substitute for a 1-1 draw with Venezuela.
This came after the 25-year-old trained separate to the rest of Lionel Scaloni’s squad due to a fitness concern picked up in Liverpool’s 1-0 win at Crystal Palace.
While Arne Slot and his staff will be waiting with fingers crossed as Argentina prepare to face Bolivia, the hope will be that Mac Allister can take another positive step in his recovery.
According to Argentina newspaper Clarin, Mac Allister’s injury was an overload in his right adductor muscle, which is a recurrence of the injury he suffered a month previous.
Mac Allister had already played 827 of a possible 990 minutes (83.5%) for club and country prior to the trip to Crystal Palace.
That included being subbed off in a 3-0 win over Chile during the September international break with adductor problems, only to come off the bench against Colombia four days later.
His importance to both Liverpool and Argentina clearly makes it difficult to allow him rest, though fortunately at least he was afforded that last week.
Questions can certainly be asked over Mac Allister travelling for duty this month despite the ongoing injury, though there will have been communication between the medical departments for both club and country.
Clarin suggest that the midfielder could return to Scaloni’s starting lineup against Bolivia on Tuesday night alongside Enzo Fernandez and Rodrigo De Paul.
His inclusion is even described as “necessary” with Mac Allister seen as “the thermometer of the midfield,” while his replacement against Venezuela, Giovani Lo Celso, “did not have a good performance.”
In a post on Instagram on Sunday, Liverpool’s No. 10 wrote: “Back at home, always a pride to wear this shirt! Preparing with everything for what’s coming.”
