Anfield Watch
·26 September 2025
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·26 September 2025
One Liverpool misfit has suddenly found himself with a golden opportunity. It's come at a massive cost, however.
Liverpool suffered a major blow this week as Giovanni Leoni was ruled out for the long term. The 18-year-old has torn his ACL and did so on his debut for the Reds.
What an impressive debut it was, too. Leoni looked absolutely fantastic against Southampton, showing composure and instincts far beyond his years.
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The fact it ended with such an awful injury is heartbreaking. We can only hope he rebounds even stronger and Leoni certainly has the right people around him to do just that.
But this awful news has handed a golden opportunity to someone else. And it’s one they fully deserve.
Leoni's injury means Liverpool will remove him from their UEFA Champions League squad for the rest of the league phase and replace him with another senior player. Fabrizio Romano claims that will be Federico Chiesa.
Chiesa was left out of the squad purely because of numbers. The Reds lacked homegrown players and thus needed to leave space in their 25-man squad.
The Italian missed out, which can only have been a massive blow for him. Chiesa would always have viewed certain Champions League games as brilliant opportunities for minutes.
Well, he's now back in the squad and able to play in European competition. It's a fully-deserved opportunity for the winger as he's been fantastic so far this season.
There was the winner against Newcastle United, of course, as the highlight so far but Chiesa's performance against Southampton was brilliant. He was the best player on the pitch, creating both Liverpool goals.
His efforts on and off the ball have been exemplary this season and he remains one of the hardest-working players in the squad. Not only should Chiesa be in that Champions League squad, he should get games.
We'd certainly like to see more of him. Chiesa took a massive chance on Liverpool this season, after all, deciding to fight for his place despite a remarkable lack of minutes last season.
He's got the ideal attitude for Liverpool and he's now showing it on the pitch, too. Chiesa has earned a golden opportunity like this - and we're absolutely certain he'll take it.