The worldwide break provides Arne Slot a fortnight to take inventory of the place Liverpool presently stand and assess what may should be carried out otherwise for the Reds’ 9 remaining matches this season.
The 46-year-old has hardly put a foot fallacious since changing Jurgen Klopp final summer time, however two painful defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle over the previous week could have given him a lot to ponder over the 16 days between now and our subsequent match, the Merseyside derby on 2 April.
One standout trait of the Dutchman is his clearly outlined most well-liked beginning XI, from which he hardly ever deviates vastly even when there appears to be ample scope for rotation.
James Pearce requires Slot to play Federico Chiesa extra usually
In an article for The Athletic analysing Liverpool’s sobering Carabao Cup remaining defeat on Sunday, James Pearce referred to as on Slot to utilise Federico Chiesa extra usually after the Italian got here off the bench to attain a comfort objective in stoppage time at Wembley.
The journalist wrote: ‘With Cody Gakpo so rusty after his latest harm absence, the one vibrant spark was offered by Federico Chiesa. The Italy worldwide seemed sharp and coolly slotted residence a comfort objective from Elliott’s incisive move in stoppage time. Chiesa did extra in 20 minutes than Jota and Diaz mixed.
‘Slot must revisit his pecking order of attackers after the worldwide break as a result of Chiesa deserves extra recreation time in the course of the run-in.’
Ought to Slot be giving Chiesa extra of an opportunity at Liverpool?
Chiesa’s health points since becoming a member of from Juventus practically seven months in the past have been well-documented, and Slot has publicly acknowledged that Liverpool’s hectic fixture schedule has been a big think about his sporadic use of the 27-year-old to date.
The Italy ahead has made simply 11 appearances for the Reds (eight in its place), together with his complete game-time amounting to 387 minutes, solely seven of which have come within the Premier League for the reason that begin of January (Transfermarkt).
Possibly there was an comprehensible aspect of needing to handle the participant’s workload rigorously in gentle of his health issues, however with LFC having only one extra midweek fixture for the remainder of the season, that ought to give our quantity 14 extra scope to characteristic within the run-in to the marketing campaign.
Chiesa’s objective at Wembley was simply reward for his spectacular 16-minute outing off the bench, throughout which he received all 4 of his duels, registered as many photographs heading in the right direction as each different Liverpool participant mixed and touched the ball 17 instances – solely six fewer than Mo Salah, who performed the complete recreation (Sofascore).
Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota have scored three objectives in 32 appearances between them for the reason that begin of January, with the Italian netting twice in seven video games in that point.
The 27-year-old is able to enjoying anyplace throughout the ahead line, so maybe ought to Slot put a bit extra religion in him as soon as the Reds resume their season after the worldwide break.