Liverpool fans could potentially see one player in action at Anfield for the first time on Saturday when the Reds resume their Premier League campaign against Nottingham Forest.
The Merseysiders completed the signing of Federico Chiesa prior to the win over Manchester United at the start of September, although he wasn’t involved that day due to a lack of match fitness, having not played since the end of June.
However, despite previous reports that the Carabao Cup tie against West Ham in 13 days’ time was his targeted debut date, we could now see him begin his LFC career sooner than that.
According to Chris Bascombe for The Telegraph, the 26-year-old has used the past fortnight to maximise his fitness and ‘will be pushing for inclusion’ in the matchday squad for the Forest game on Saturday.
READ MORE: Transfer insider cites one reason why Trent may have delayed Liverpool contract decision
For Chiesa’s potential Liverpool debut to be fast-tracked by three matches is a hugely encouraging indicator as to how well his training regime at Kirkby has been going, particularly when he hasn’t featured since Italy’s exit from Euro 2024 nearly two-and-a-half months ago.
If Arne Slot has the rest of his forwards available against Forest, he probably won’t risk the ex-Juventus star as soon as this weekend, but the mere possibility of him making the substitutes’ bench is a very good sign.
Follow Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE
While our joint-top scorers Luis Diaz and Mo Salah have both had long-haul trips over the international break, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota had relatively short distances to travel (and the latter won’t have played since Sunday), and Darwin Nunez remained on Merseyside due to his ban for Uruguay.
It means that, barring an unwanted and unexpected malaise in the next 48 hours, the head coach won’t have any real need to call on Chiesa this Saturday, but even having him in the squad bodes well for a busy 22-day period in which Liverpool play seven times.
We should be able to manage without our new forward at the weekend, but he’ll certainly be needed after that, and the chances of him playing against either of both of AC Milan and Bournemouth next week appear to have greatly increased following Bascombe’s revelation.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool reign is about to be turbocharged as Reds enter rollercoaster fixture sequence
