LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold hasn't returned to team training yet after of a hamstring injury and could miss next week's Champions League game against Real Madrid, manager Arne Slot said Friday.
The England international was ruled out for Sunday's Premier League match at last-place Southampton. He was substituted off in the 25th minute of Liverpool's 2-0 win over Aston Villa on Nov. 9.
Liverpool, which sits atop the standings in both competitions, expects to be without goalkeeper Alisson Becker and forward Diogo Jota at least through the Madrid game Wednesday at Anfield.
At a news conference, Slot was asked about the trio's availability for both midweek and next Sunday's showdown with title rival Manchester City.
“The last few days of recovery are always the ones that are the most tricky because then they have to go from isolated training sessions to where it's a group training session, and that is always the most difficult one,” Slot said. “It's difficult to judge now and to tell you now it's going to be one, two, three days or a bit longer. The only thing I can say is that with Alisson and with Jota, I don't expect them to be available for that game. With Trent, it's going to be in between.”
Alexander-Arnold will be training with the full team “soon,” the manager said.
Alisson has a hamstring injury. Liverpool hasn't specified Jota's problem but the Portugal forward hasn't played since Oct. 20 when he left in the 30th minute of a 2-1 win over Chelsea. That was after a collision with a Chelsea defender.
Slot confirmed that Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is “completely OK.” The center back returned from international duty with the Netherlands after playing in a 4-0 win over Hungary that clinched a Nations League quarterfinals spot. The Dutch played Bosnia and Herzegovina a few days later.
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Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk celebrates after his team defeated Aston Villa 2-0 at the end of a English Premier League soccer match at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Fans of the Liverpool cheer for their team during the English Premier League soccer match against Aston Villa at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold gestures during the English Premier League soccer match against Aston Villa at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Friday denounced the International Criminal Court’s issuing of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he would defy it by inviting him to Hungary.
In comments to state radio, Orbán accused the ICC, the world’s top war crimes court based in The Hague, of “interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes,” saying the decision to issue the warrant for Netanyahu over his conduct of the war in Gaza undermined international law and escalated tensions.
Member countries of the ICC, such as Hungary, are required to detain suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that.
The ICC issued the arrest warrant on Thursday for Netanyahu as well as for his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the 13-month war in Gaza.
The warrants said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny.
In his comments Friday, Orbán, a close Netanyahu ally, called the arrest warrant “outrageously impudent” and “cynical.” He said he would invite Netanyahu to Hungary later Friday and vowed to disregard the warrant if the invitation is accepted.
“We will defy this decision, and it will have no consequences for him,” Orbán said. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó earlier criticized the ICC’s warrant as “absurd.”
Israel and its top ally, the United States, are not members of the court. But other Israeli allies, including some of its close European friends, are put in an awkward position by the warrants. Several, including France, welcomed the court’s decision and signaled they might arrest Netanyahu if he visited.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden’s administration was “deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision.”
Netanyahu on Friday praised Hungary for its stance on the warrant, saying in a statement: "Against the shameful weakness of those who stood by the outrageous decision against the right of the State of Israel to defend itself, Hungary — like our friends in the United States — is displaying moral clarity and standing by justice and truth.”
The action by the ICC came as the death toll from Israel’s campaign in Gaza passed 44,000, according to local health authorities, who say more than half of those killed were women and children. Their count does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
FILE - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a press conference after their meeting in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, Pool, File)
