Why Federico Chiesa was left out of Liverpool squad to face Galatasaray

Arne Slot has confirmed that Federico Chiesa has been left out of Liverpool’s squad for their Champions League trip to Galatasaray after picking up an injury against Crystal Palace.

The Italian forward was added to the Reds’ Champions League squad last week following Giovanni Leoni’s ACL injury in the Carabao Cup win over Southampton.

Federico Chiesa came off the bench to score in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace and had been in contention for a European outing at RAMS Park on Tuesday evening.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Slot said: “He got a little niggle, I think it is the word you use here in England, in the last game against Palace.

“He tried it today, he was on the pitch in the beginning but he couldn’t end the session, so we decided not to take him because in a few days it’s Chelsea again.”

Liverpool’s only two clean sheets in all competitions this season came in 1-0 wins over Arsenal and Burnley.

Asked how his side can improve that record, Slot added: “For me, defending is only a small margin.

“One of our strengths last season was we kept teams away from our goal and that starts somewhere else, not defenders.

“We have conceded four goals from set-pieces, so we have changed full-backs but we have changed a bit more [in other positions].

“The goals we conceded, I will look back in detail, but the first thing that comes to my mind is not that the new full-backs are the problem.

“We need 11 players to work incredibly hard to stop chances but you can work as hard as you want but setpieces are a different game inside the game.

“We hardly conceded from set-pieces last season, so we have to prove we have been unlucky with that, because that can happen but we definitely have to improve because I see teams who win Premier League games because of set-pieces.

“We lose them.”