Arne Slot has confirmed plans to rotate Liverpool’s squad more in the coming weeks, with Federico Chiesa set to play a bigger role. The Italian winger made a brief debut, replacing Mo Salah in the final minutes of Liverpool’s 3-1 win over AC Milan.
Signed from Juventus for £12.5 million late in the transfer window, Chiesa had a challenging pre-season. He was often training alone, which delayed his match fitness. Slot explained Chiesa is improving and now “needs minutes,” but faces stiff competition for a stating spot.
What Slot said about Chiesa?
With a packed schedule ahead, more opportunities for Chiesa and other squad players are expected. Slot replied,
“Yeah, I think we will.
We will see more of the players that haven’t played a lot today or in other games in the future soon.
But [Chiesa] gets fitter and fitter. He had a difficult pre-season because he was not always able to train with the first team of Juve, so he had to train a lot on his own.
Then it takes a bit of time to get your match fitness. It’s getting better and better.
He needs playing minutes now, but he has competition from some good wingers as well, so let’s see when we’re going to use him.
But he’s going to be a big asset for us, a very good player us, that’s clear. That’s what we knew before we signed him and it’s also what we see on the training ground now.”
What is waiting for Liverpool?
Liverpool are in the midst of a hectic run of seven games in 22 days, with fixtures against Bournemouth, West Ham, Wolves, Bologna, and Crystal Palace before the October international break.
This busy schedule suggests that Arne Slot will rotate his squad more frequently, as he did with two changes for the AC Milan match. Federico Chiesa is expected to feature more prominently, providing much-needed rest for Mohamed Salah.
Joe Gomez made his season debut on Tuesday, while Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez, Conor Bradley, Jarell Quansah, and possibly Tyler Morton are also likely to get playing time.
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