Arne Slot has confirmed Diogo Jota has suffered a setback ahead of facing Southampton in the Carabao Cup in the latest Liverpool injury news update.
Liverpool Injury News: Diogo Jota Suffers Setback Ahead Of Southampton Clash
Diogo Jota scored on his comeback from a rib injury in the 2-2 draw with Fulham on Saturday.
The Portuguese forward had been out for nearly two months with the injury and made a positive impact on his return in a welcomed boost for the Reds.
However, Arne Slot has confirmed that the striker could not train on Monday due to stiffness and does not expect him to start in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup clash with Southampton as he revealed Liverpool’s latest injury news.
Arne Slot's provides an injury update on his squad 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/DL7WHgTUT4
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 17, 2024
“Diogo would have definitely been one that would have been ideal for him to play,” Slot said on Tuesday morning. “But after the game on Saturday, he wasn’t completely fit so he didn’t train with us yesterday.
“Let’s see if he can train with us today, but I don’t expect him to start. Hopefully, he can make some minutes, but don’t expect him to start.”
Slot Provides Updates On Kostas Tsimikas, Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley
While Jota is a doubt for the trip to St Mary’s, Slot believes Kostas Tsimikas could be involved for the midweek game.
However, there are no returns for Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley, who remain sidelined.
“Kostas is coming close,” he said. “He’s going to train with us today, maybe for the first time. Let’s see how that works out. Conor and Ibou are still not training.”
Summer signing Federico Chiesa also looks set to be given minutes as he returns from injury.
The Italian has only featured three times for Liverpool in what has been a nightmare start to his career at Anfield.
“It’s definitely a moment where he can get minutes,” said Slot. “The amount of minutes is a question mark. You cannot expect him to play 90, especially at this level where the intensity is so high because he has been out for five or six months now.
“But he will, if has a good training session, get minutes. It will be a game where all our starters won’t start so we have to manage minutes. If we want to use a few starters, it will not be for 90 minutes.
“I can only make five substitutions. He will make minutes tomorrow – whether he starts or comes in to play the second half, it’s something we have to make a decision about.”
