Injury Expert Reveals the TRUTH Behind Federico Chiesa and Diogo Jota’s Liverpool Injuries | OneFootball

Liverpool Injury Update: Expert’s Insight on Federico Chiesa and Diogo Jota

Liverpool have had an incredible start to the season under Arne Slot, but despite the media’s portrayal, it hasn’t been without its hurdles for the Dutchman. The Reds currently sit top of both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League table, as well as reaching the Carabao Cup quarter-final.

All that has been achieved, whilst juggling injuries to the likes of Federico Chiesa, Diogo Jota, Alisson Becker, Harvey Elliott and Conor Bradley.

Injury expert Ben Dinnery spoke to Anfield Index, who provided updates on the injury struggles of a couple of key Liverpool stars…

Federico Chiesa: A Real Concern?

The Italian forward joined Liverpool from Juventus for just £12million in the summer, but have since played just 78 minutes of football before picking up a mysterious injury that has sidelined him for almost two months now. Such a poor start has a fair amount of Liverpool supporters concerned over the fitness of the forward, with some already harshly labelling the 27-year-old as a ‘flop’.

Photo: IMAGO

“In the grand scheme of things, it’s certainly not a huge concern,” began Dinnery, “It’s very early days in his Liverpool career and we’re talking about a player who was once valued at over £70m and they’ve picked him up for £12m!”

“Players arriving at a club with new philosophies and ideas, there is always going to be bumps in the road,” continued Dinnery, “There’s still a very high ceiling for him despite his injury struggles.”

Dinnery also pointed out the squad role that the Italian is really needed to play, highlighting the strength and depth in Liverpool’s attacking positions. “Is he a player that I would be pinning my hopes on to start every week? Absolutely not. But, does he need to be that? Also no.” said Dinnery.

“With Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz, it gives him a good chance to feed in when possible,” pointed out Dinnery, “Hopefully in the second half of the season he can get fit and prove his worth.”

Diogo Jota: Broken Rib?

The Portuguese forward has been sidelined since picking up an impact injury in the first-half of Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Chelsea, five weeks ago.

“We saw the incident with that impact injury to the ribs, then you have to be very careful with that,” began Dinnery, “It was reported that it was a heavy bruise and there was some concern that it could’ve been a broken rib.”

“Everything around the timeline suggests that it might’ve been the case.”

Photo: IMAGO

Dinnery was also keen to point out that such an injury in an area like the ribs must be treat with great precaution in order to avoid extending the length of damage. This would explain Slot’s reluctance to rush Jota back into the fold, especially given Liverpool’s strong results recently.

“Why wouldn’t you want to give a player as much time to recover as possible?” continued Dinnery, “It means that when he returns, he returns to perform and can stay fit.”

“If an extra ten days means that he has more chance of staying fit, then it’s great management from Slot, in my opinion.”

It’s hard to argue with Dinnery’s observations. The Liverpool forward has often been criticised for his poor injury record, but a broken rib would just be another example of extremely poor luck on Jota’s behalf. His return will be a huge boost for Liverpool’s title pursuit, both domestically and on the European front.