Liverpool winger Federico Chiesa has recovered from illness and is in contention for Saturday’s game against Brighton, but Arne Slott still has several injury concerns, including a fresh problem with Alexander Isak. According to Slott, the Swedish centre-forward has suffered a bruise and may not be able to take part in the Seagulls’ visit.
Isak partnered Hugo Ekitike in midweek but failed to produce much success and could be ruled out for the Premier League game. Slott revealed in a press conference that Kodi Gakpo is suffering from a muscle problem, while Wataru Endo is suffering from an ankle problem. Both players face sidelines that could potentially last “several weeks”, although no specific timeframe has been given for their return.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah is scheduled to meet Slott today for important talks ahead of his return to the team against Brighton. The Egyptian player missed the midweek trip to Inter Milan following a controversial interview last weekend.
“I’m going to talk to Mo this morning,” Slott said. “What I need to do is have a conversation with him, and the next time I talk about Mo, I should be with him, not here.
“There’s not much more I can say. I’ve talked to him today and the outcome will determine tomorrow. We can try different ways, but I just said that the next time we talk about him, we should do it with him.”
“I think there have been a number of conversations between his representatives and our representatives since last week.” Slott declined to answer questions about whether Salah needed to apologize. However, he admitted he was a bit glad Liverpool missed out on the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, despite having had some injury problems.
“I think not playing as many games as we have in the past will help us in the coming weeks,” he said. “How many teams have played three games in seven days this season?
“We had to do the same thing three times. I’m almost happy to be out of the League Cup. We have 13 outfield players with Premier League experience and after so many games we had to play Arsenal away on Tuesday.
“Maybe some people can understand more why we made this line-up against Palace. It wasn’t good for me, but it’s what I did for the team.”
“Sometimes players need a break… Dom, Ibou, Virgil, Ryan, it’s a very long time. It’s very good for them so they’ll be running with a week’s rest in between and the players will come back from injury and there will be more options.”
