The Liverpool Champions League campaign is on hold for the November international break, but the Reds’ dressing room is anything but quiet. Virgil van Dijk has a fitness issue, Alisson is in award form and Alexis Mac Allister wants more. Here is what Anfield is watching before Porto arrive.
Liverpool Champions League: Porto at Anfield on 9 December
Liverpool host FC Porto in the league phase on Wednesday 9 December, with an 8pm GMT kick-off at Anfield. That is a 4am start on Thursday morning in Singapore, so the early-risers among us will be setting alarms. The club has confirmed ticketing details for the tie, and Anfield will, as ever, be loud for a European night.
It is a date that matters. Liverpool’s European form has had its wobbles, and the memory of the 3-2 defeat at Fenerbahce on 4 November is still fresh. Our Fenerbahce 3-2 Liverpool report covers a night in which set-pieces proved costly, a theme Mac Allister has since raised himself.
Van Dijk fitness: the one worry
The headline from Monday was the news that Van Dijk will miss the Netherlands’ matches against Greece and Germany. A statement from the Dutch national team said the Liverpool captain “did not return fit” from the 3-1 win at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
No timescale has been given, and it would be wrong to guess. What we can say is that the break gives Liverpool’s medical staff the longest runway they will get before the next run of fixtures. Resting an injured captain at home rather than risking him on international duty is hardly the worst outcome for Anfield.
Why Van Dijk matters so much
Mac Allister singled out the centre-backs after Selhurst Park, saying the defenders “were really, really good” in protecting the box against a Palace side with plenty of quality. Remove the leader of that back line and the balance changes. The next few weeks will show how much depth Liverpool really have.
Mac Allister, set-pieces and the push to improve
Mac Allister opened the scoring at Selhurst Park with a well-placed header, his first Premier League goal of the season, before Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak added the others. Eddie Nketiah’s late penalty was a consolation for the hosts. Our Crystal Palace 1-3 Liverpool match report has the full story of how the Reds ended their slump.
The Argentine was candid afterwards. “We know that this is far from perfect and we have to keep improving,” he said. He also pointed out that the team had lost a game by conceding three set-pieces, then won this one by scoring from one. That is the sort of self-awareness managers love to hear.
There was another number worth noting. Per Opta, Liverpool have taken 13 points from their first five away league matches, the most in the division this term and the joint-most from the first five away games of a league campaign in the club’s history. Four wins on the road in 2026/27 shows where the strength lies.
Alisson in the spotlight
Alisson Becker is on the shortlist for Premier League Player of the Matchweek after a performance Mac Allister called amazing. The Brazilian’s first-half save from Daichi Kamada’s shot drew disbelief from the Japanese midfielder himself. He is up against Thierno Barry of Everton, Liam Delap of Nottingham Forest, Pascal Gross of Brighton, Tarik Muharemovic of Leeds United and Nordi Mukiele of Sunderland.
Slump over, standards still high
Mac Allister was honest about the performance, too. “Sometimes we tried to press and it was not perfect, so they could come out from it and they created chances,” he said. Palace did cause problems, and Alisson was needed. Still, winning ahead of a break matters, and Mac Allister called it “really, really important” to go into the pause with three points. For a side that had been searching for rhythm, that is a useful reset.
What comes next for Liverpool
After Porto, there is the Carabao Cup. Liverpool face Bournemouth in the quarter-final at Anfield on Wednesday 16 December, again at 8pm GMT. Two big home nights in a week will test fitness, squad rotation and nerve in equal measure.
So the questions for the rest of the break are simple. How quickly can Van Dijk return? Can Liverpool turn their away form into a Champions League push? And will Alisson get the award recognition he deserves? We will be tracking all three. For more football coverage, head to our Sports section.
