News on Diogo Jota‘s recovery from a rib injury has been sparse, but Arne Slot has finally offered a brief update on his forward.
Jota has been out since October 22 after succumbing to a rib injury after Chelsea defender Tosin Adarabioyo landed directly on him after a challenge.
He has consequently missed the last 10 games, with Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez left to shoulder the responsibility up top as Federico Chiesa has also been sidelined.
Updates have been few and far between, but ahead of the trip to Everton Slot finally made a brief mention of the No. 20’s condition.
On his side’s injuries, Slot said: “Our main worry is, at this moment, if we look at how close they all are to playing.
“There’s only three injuries left and that’s in our last line, with Diogo being close to being back, Federico being close and the same for Alisson.
“That means only Ibou, Conor, and Kostas are a bit further away from playing time.”
Slot has shown he prefers to keep the health of his players private, but it is at least a positive update that we can expect to see Jota return to the fold sooner rather than later.
He has played just 10 times this season for a total of 653 minutes, and his availability will come as a significant boost as the Reds prepare to juggle four competitions.
In other injury news, Slot confirmed that Caoimhin Kelleher will remain in goal against Everton as Alisson is “not ready yet, but he will be ready very soon.”
