Liverpool boss Arne Slot lifts lid on Federico Chiesa injury and provides Jota update

Liverpool’s Federico Chiesa is struggling with the increased intensity levels following his summer transfer from Juventus, according to Arne Slot.

Chiesa, who moved to Liverpool for £12million in late August, has only made three appearances and one start – against West Ham in the Carabao Cup – and has been absent from the last three match-day squads due to fitness issues.

The Italian international is expected to be sidelined again on Wednesday night when Liverpool face RB Leipzig in the Champions League. Slot provided an update on the attacker’s ongoing problems.

“I think it is always so difficult with injuries,” Slot said. “Especially if it has just happened, to see where they are after a few days. I think after a few days you can say better where they are.”

“With Federico it’s a bit more simple, although it is difficult, it is a bit more simple to explain. He missed pre-season, I said this many times, and going to a league that is a higher intensity than Serie A, we just faced two Italian teams so I can say this now.

“That makes it difficult for him to make the step towards the intensity levels to where the rest of the team is at the moment. It has not so much to do with the Italian league or the Premier League but so much to do with him missing the entire pre-season.”

The Reds boss lamented the challenging situation, expressing disappointment at the constant in-and-outs faced by the players: “So it is difficult for every player, when the games are constantly there, to build up players to the levels we are at. It’s difficult to say but it is a big disappointment that he is going in and out of the training sessions all the time.”

He showed compassion for one particular player and mentioned his contractual commitment to the club: “So I feel sorry for him but he signed a long-term contract, so we will see what he brings for us. At the moment, unfortunately for us he has been in the team selection one or two times and no more than that.”

Updating on Diogo Jota’s condition, the manager confirmed he will miss the upcoming European match after an incident in their last game: “We all saw Diogo get a knock when he was trying to go towards goal and was brought down, that was not the biggest problem, but the other player fell on to him and that hurt so much that he couldn’t he couldn’t carry on and come with us now.”

Finally, the boss listed the players absent from the trip due to various issues, underscoring the team’s current predicaments: “Conor Bradley didn’t make the trip, Harvey Elliott didn’t make it, Federico Chiesa didn’t and Alisson didn’t make the trip either, so that means we have a few issues at the moment.”

He gave insight into the extent of Jota’s injury, suggesting it was tough to predict the recovery period: “It is difficult to judge at this moment of time to see how long it is going to take. Ribs? He felt somewhere over here, it is bruised I think, so we’ll have to see how long it is going to take.”

After already securing victories against Italian teams AC Milan and Bologna, Liverpool is now setting their sights on the Bundesliga team in a bid to progress further in the knockout stages.

“You cannot ask for much more with results but there is always room for improvement,” Slot stated. “I don’t think we outplayed Chelsea, we certainly did not I think they were more dominant than us with the ball. Ideally, I would have liked to see us dominate the entire game.

“We are not quite there yet. The positive aspect is, when we face teams like Chelsea and United, you see a team fighting for every inch and every moment in the game. I am hopeful that in the near future, we will play a game like Milan or United and become more dominant than we were against Chelsea.

“Perhaps this says more about Chelsea. I’ve said it before, many people in England made light of them investing so much money. In my view, they have done exceptionally well to bring in so many talented players. With such a strong squad and manager, they will be contenders in the coming years. That’s my opinion, let’s see if I’m right.”