(Video) One Liverpool player will have given Arne Slot food for thought after his display v Lille
Liverpool made it seven wins out of seven in the Champions League on Tuesday night as they got the better of Lille at Anfield, and Arne Slot will have been delighted with the contributions from the 16 Reds players who featured across the 90+ minutes.
The head coach chose to keep some of his regular starters in reserve, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alexis Mac Allister among those who dropped to the bench before coming on in the second half, and a couple of other substitutes caught the eye.
Harvey Elliott was introduced at half-time and ended up netting his team’s winning goal (along with reiterating his firm commitment to the club that he grew up supporting), and Federico Chiesa also shone after he entered the fray last night.
Chiesa provided a threat for Liverpool off the bench v Lille
The Italian forward may have had just over 15 minutes on the pitch, but that was still time enough to land two shots on target – only Mo Salah had more (three), and he played the entire match.
The first of those saw the 27-year-old cleverly cut inside Hákon Arnar Haraldsson and force a strong save out of Lucas Chevalier.
With the second, he latched onto a loose ball and again tied the Lille defence in knots before his low shot was diverted by the visitors’ goalkeeper into the path of Darwin Nunez, who finished to the net but had the goal disallowed as he was offside.
Liverpool fans should hopefully see plenty more of Chiesa in upcoming games
Chiesa mightn’t have had much of a window to impress last night, but he tormented the away team during his time on the pitch and showed that, when he gets the ball, his sights are set on going for goal rather than merely playing the safe option.
He surely did enough during that cameo to provide Slot with food for thought when it comes to his team selection for upcoming fixtures, even with Salah having the right-winger berth nailed down, and his passionate reaction to Elliott’s goal illustrated what playing for Liverpool means to him!
With the Reds assured of their passage to the last 16 of the Champions League, next week’s game against PSV Eindhoven seems the perfect opportunity to hand a rare start to our number 14 and allow the Egyptian a deserved breather.
Chiesa has still only played 186 minutes for LFC – equivalent to just over two full matches – but the threat that he provided off the bench last night should see him increase that tally substantially in the coming weeks.
You can view Chiesa’s highlights against Lille below, via @ChiesaLFC on X:
Federico Chiesa vs Lille
15 minute cameo pic.twitter.com/anfbHCcVq0
— . (@ChiesaLFC) January 21, 2025
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