Arne Slot has revealed that Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa could both return to the Liverpool squad for Saturday’s Premier League clash against Fulham.
The Reds have been without the forwards for quite some time now, although their absences have not slowed them down as they currently sit top of the table domestically as well as in the Champions League.
Jota, who has netted four goals across all competitions so far this season, has been sidelined since mid-October with a rib injury sustained during the 2-1 win over Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Chiesa’s last involvement in a senior capacity with Liverpool was at the end of September when he was an unused substitute in the victory against Wolves as a mix of injury and illness has kept him on the sidelines.
However, both players have trained this week and could be available for selection to increase the attacking options at Slot’s disposal for the visit of Fulham to Anfield.
"I think they are," was Slot's response when asked if the pair would be named in the matchday squad. "We have one training session to go but Federico missed quite a lot, was ill last week so we have to wait and see how he's exactly doing.
"But maybe Diogo is in the squad and maybe Federico as well but that depends a bit on the numbers we have and also how he has recovered from his illness."
Slot suggested next week’s Carabao Cup quarter-final tie away at Southampton as a potential return to action for Chiesa, given that the Italian hasn’t played much football since arriving from Juventus in the summer transfer window.
“What makes it difficult is we play so many games,” the Dutchman added. “What he needs is playing time and the problem is if you haven’t played for five or six months, it’s sometimes difficult for a manager to give him his first minutes because you don’t exactly know what you can expect.
“Yes, I see him on the training ground but ideally you see him in a friendly during the week or you see him in a Under-21s game but that is not the situation we have because we play so many games.
“So maybe the Southampton game might be a good moment for him to get some playing minutes and then we will know a bit better what to expect from him.
“Of course we see his qualities, we know his qualities but he needs to get his fitness level [up]. If you only have training sessions that is not the same as playing time, so you need to have playing time to reach certain fitness levels.
“That is if you are competing for the league and competing in the Champions League, it’s not always easy to find these minutes, unless we are sometimes four or five-nil up.
“But for the whole season I think it was only once against Bournemouth at home, 3-0 up at half-time and for the rest it’s been a struggle or a fight to the last second of every game.”
