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Louise Thomas
Editor
Liverpool forward Federico Chiesa has suffered an injury blow that denies him a first Champions League night at Anfield and could rule him out until the international break.
The Italy international has a muscular problem that means he will sit out Wednesday’s game against Bologna and makes him a doubt for Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace.
Manager Arne Slot believes it will be a particular blow for Chiesa, a £10m summer signing from Juventus, to miss a match against against a team from his home country.
But he had better news about striker Diogo Jota, who also sat out training but is likely to be fit to face Bologna.
Slot said: “Diogo missed two sessions after the game against Wolves. He took a knock but I am expecting him to be with us and available to play. Federico trained yesterday [Monday] and came in today with some problems and I am not expecting him to be available.
“It is a pity for us and even more for him, he was looking forward to a Champions League night at Anfield, especially against an Italian team but there will be many more. I am not expecting him to be out for a long time and we have to see if he will be able to be in the game on Saturday.”
Chiesa has made three appearances since joining Liverpool, with his lone start coming in last week’s 5-1 win over West Ham.
But teammate Alexis Mac Allister believes he will prove pivotal in his time at Anfield.
The Argentina midfielder said: “From the day he arrived you could see how happy he is to be here and that is already a very important thing. He is showing how good he is, we expect a lot from him, he will be very important for us and I am pretty sure he is going to do well here.”
