Slot praises ‘positive’ performance from Liverpool attacker who did something for the first time in nine months | OneFootball

Arne Slot was afforded the luxury of rotating his squad against PSV and that led to opportunities for several players who don’t always get them.

Asked whether the performance of Federico Chiesa was a big step forward for him, our head coach stated:

“Yeah. And he got a knock with the penalty so that took him a few minutes before he got going again.

“But I think it’s been seven, eight or nine months ago – maybe even longer, I don’t know exactly – since he played 90…

“Federico in the end was still sprinting, trying to do his work. So, positive.”

Federico Chiesa has been fighting to prove his fitness for Liverpool since his arrival and it was certainly an opportunity against PSV that he took.

Federico Chiesa looked lively in his second start for Liverpool

(Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

We saw in his cameo against Lille that the Italian has the tools to cause any defence a problem, though the biggest question mark was always over his fitness.

To be able to play 90 minutes would have been a massive boost for the 27-year-old who is becoming increasingly likely to be a first team asset for the closing stages of the campaign.

Roberto Di Matteo has backed the former Juventus attacker to thrive and given what we’ve seen in the last few weeks, it’s starting to look like this could be the case.

His tireless pressing caused the penalty to be given and an effort on goal from the Euros winner, led to Harvey Elliott scoring too – making it an impressive evening for form and fitness.

You can view Slot’s comments on Chiesa via Liverpool FC on YouTube:

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