"He looked like he’d been on a ten-day cruise" - Former Red slams Alisson after Man City draw

Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders has been quick to criticise goalkeeper Alisson after the Reds drew 1-1 with Manchester City at the weekend, claiming the Brazilian "looked like he’d been on a ten-day cruise."

Trent Alexander-Arnold rescued a point for Liverpool at the Etihad on Saturday, levelling in the 80th minute with a lovely strike after Erling Haaland had given Man City the lead.

Haaland's opener came after Alisson attempted to quickly kick the ball up the field to start a Liverpool counter-attack, instead slicing his pass into the path of Man City's Nathan Ake. The Dutchman then beat two defenders before setting up last season's Premier League top scorer.

It was not the only time Alisson had looked unconvincing at the Etihad. His poor pass set up Phil Foden early in the game, while he was perhaps fortunate not to gift Man City a second after he spilled a corner which Ruben Dias then converted form close range. However, referee Chris Kavanagh ruled that he had been fouled by Manuel Akanji.

Despite it not being Alisson's finest outing in a Liverpool shirt, the 31-year-old still produced a phenomenal save from Foden's effort from distance, while also managing some other decent stops. However, that didn't stop Saunders laying into the former Roma man.

"You should have seen Alisson yesterday,” Saunders said on talkSPORT (via Football365). "He looked like he’d been on a ten-day cruise not on international duty.

"Honestly, he’s a world-class goalkeeper but he made four assists for goals for Man City playing out from the back. But whose fault is it? Is it the manager or is it the goalkeeper?"

While it was an uncharacteristically sloppy performance from Alisson, it might be explained by the fact that the Brazil international was playing in the early hours of last Wednesday morning for his country against Argentina in Rio de Janeiro.

What is more concerning is that Alisson pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring injury during the closing stages at the Etihad. While he soldiered on to the final whistle, Jurgen Klopp will be sweating on his fitness.

The Liverpool manager said after the match: "It looks like we’ve lost Ali with a muscle problem and Diogo Jota. And that is massive. I don’t know how many games coming up now [until Boxing Day], maybe 15.

"We have to get through this, we have to improve, we need to get more stable and in games like this, we should be more compact."