Liverpool are set to be without star goalkeeper Alisson for around six weeks after the Brazil No 1 went down with a hamstring blow in Istanbul on Tuesday night.

The 33-year-old, who has been injury prone in recent seasons, is set to miss more than a month and may not return until after the international break after scans on Thursday.

But the Reds have been boosted by the news that Hugo Ekitike, their top scorer this season, is hopeful of returning to action to face Chelsea on Saturday after also going off injured in the loss at Galatasaray.

Daily Mail Sport revealed in our Liverpool Confidential column that Ekitike was confident he had suffered no major issues and the Frenchman is in line to make the trip to London.

Alisson went down and was forced off during Liverpool’s defeat in Istanbul on Wednesday

There is better news over Hugo Ekitike, who was also injured but should feature at Chelsea

Alisson, though, will not be on that journey and Giorgi Mamardashvili, the Georgian goalkeeper signed from Valencia for £29million in the summer, is primed to make his Premier League debut.

Across the last two seasons, Alisson has missed 20 Premier League games through injury or illness, which is one of the reasons Liverpool were keen to begin succession planning with the arrival of highly-rated Mamardashvili.

Federico Chiesa should be back in the squad at Stamford Bridge after missing the midweek European game through what was described as a ’niggle’, while fellow Italian Giovanni Leoni underwent surgery earlier this week on an anterior cruciate ligament injury.