Liverpool will be without Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley once again when they host Leicester City on Boxing Day.
The defensive duo has missed the Reds’ last six matches after picking up injuries during last month’s encounter with Real Madrid.
Arne Slot has seen his squad’s injury list ease in recent weeks, with Harvey Elliott, Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota, and Kostas Tsimikas all returning to action.
Federico Chiesa also made his first appearance since September in last week’s League Cup victory over Southampton.
However, the Italian forward missed Liverpool’s win over Tottenham Hotspur, having not been seen in training on Friday.
While it was initially reported that his absence was not injury-related, Slot confirmed ahead of the Leicester clash that Chiesa had been dealing with an illness.
He also ruled out both Konaté and Bradley for the upcoming match.
“No,” he admitted when asked if the defensive pair could return against Leicester before offering an update on Chiesa. “Sick, he was ill.
“Unfortunately for him because he had some minutes against Southampton.
“But unfortunately he was sick for the last two days (Friday and Saturday) and today (Sunday) as well so we couldn’t bring him to the game.”
Federico Chiesa has made just four appearances since his move to Liverpool from Juventus in August, with the club continuing to carefully manage the forward’s fitness.
With both Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota available from the bench in a well-balanced squad against Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool opted not to risk Chiesa for the trip to North London due to him feeling unwell.
Should he fully recover, Chiesa could be in contention for Liverpool’s Boxing Day clash with Leicester City at Anfield.
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