Arne Slot explains why Federico Chiesa hasn’t travelled for Liverpool’s clash v Galatasaray | OneFootball

Arne Slot has explained why Federico Chiesa hasn’t travelled with the Liverpool squad for their Champions League fixture against Galatasaray.

The 27-year-old was a surprising omission from the 21-player group which flew to Istanbul earlier today, having trained in Kirkby this morning and scored in the 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The Reds’ head coach addressed the media in his pre-match press conference on Monday evening, and he revealed that the Italian forward picked up a slight injury at Selhurst Park which has endured into the subsequent training session.

When asked why Chiesa hasn’t travelled to Turkey, Slot outlined (via Liverpool Echo): “He got a little niggle, I think is the word, in the last game against Palace. He tried [to overcome] it but he couldn’t end the [training] session, so we decided not to take him because in a few days we have Chelsea.”

(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Liverpool taking no chances with Chiesa

At least the Reds boss has now provided an explanation for the 27-year-old’s absence for the Galatasaray game, which had initially seemed baffling, especially after he was drafted into the Champions League squad following the ACL injury to compatriot Giovanni Leoni.

It’s frustrating that our number 14 misses out on tomorrow’s match due to a niggling issue, especially after his first season at Anfield in 2024/25 was infuriatingly stop-start, but that might explain why the medical staff are treating him with a sense of caution now.

From Slot’s response, it seems as though Chiesa will only be sidelined for the game in Istanbul and could return for the Premier League trip to Chelsea next weekend, which should ease any fears of a lasting injury setback.

It’s a shame that the Italian misses out against Galatasaray, but the good news is that Hugo Ekitike is available again after serving his domestic suspension last Saturday, and hopefully he can continue his excellent start to life with Liverpool (five goals in his first eight matches).

Fingers crossed that both he and the ex-Juventus winger will be involved for the visit to Stamford Bridge, where we haven’t won since September 2020.

You can watch the Liverpool squad prepare for Champions League action via our YouTube channel: