Federico Chiesa is not in the squad for Liverpool’s Premier League match against Tottenham, though fortunately his absence is not due to a new injury.
After nearly three months without an appearance, Chiesa returned to action with 45 minutes from the bench against Southampton on Wednesday.
However, surprisingly for some, he hasn’t been selected in Liverpool’s 20-man squad to face Tottenham.
While fans’ instinct might be to suspect he is injured again, journalist David Lynch explained that this isn’t the case.
On X, the reporter wrote that he had been told it was “simply a selection decision.”
With all six attackers available, Arne Slot has opted for Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez to provide striking options off the bench, with Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz selected to start.
Harvey Elliott and Trey Nyoni are the two other players whom Chiesa would have possibly been in competition with for a place in the squad.
It is telling of Slot’s trust in Nyoni that he has picked the 17-year-old in his ‘last’ substitute spot.
Arne Slot’s verdict on Chiesa’s half vs. Southampton
While Chiesa offered moments of brilliant technical quality against Southampton in midweek, he wasn’t up to the same physical level as Liverpool’s first-choice forwards.
Slot wasn’t concerned by this, though, saying: “If a player is out for five or six months, you cannot expect [him to be at his best straight away].
“I saw ups and downs. I saw some really good moments and I saw some moments where I felt like, ‘OK, you can do better than this’.
“For me, that’s completely normal if a player’s been out for so long, plays his first game in five or six months probably.”
Slot went on to explain how it can be “difficult” for a player like Chiesa to return to full sharpness during a competitive campaign.
The Dutchman said: “I already said before that that makes it also so difficult for me because normally in a pre-season a player gets three, four or five games, especially.
“And then he’s only had four or five weeks now he’s out for so long, so to get him back to his best level is not easy but it was good to see that he showed some quality already today.”
