Arne Slot has offered an injury update ahead of Liverpool's Boxing Day clash with Leicester City
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Arne Slot
(Image: BBC Sport)
Liverpool will again be without Ibrahima Konate and Conor Bradley when they host Leicester City on Boxing Day. The defensive pair have missed the Reds’ last six matches after suffering injuries against Real Madrid last month.
Arne Slot has seen his side’s injury list ease up in recent weeks, with Harvey Elliott, Alisson Becker, Diogo Jota and Kostas Tsimikas all returning in recent weeks. Federico Chiesa also made his first appearance since September in last week’s League Cup victory over Southampton.
However, the Italian sat out Liverpool’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur, having not been pictured in training on Friday. Following his absence in North London, the ECHO reported he had not been left out for injury reasons.
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But ahead of the Reds’ clash with Leicester City, Slot confirmed that the forward had been suffering with illness, as he also ruled both Konate and Bradley out of the clash with the Foxes.
“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.”
Chiesa has been limited to four appearances since joining Liverpool from Juventus back in August, with the Reds continuing to manage the forward carefully.
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With Slot able to call upon the services of both Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota on a balanced bench against Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool decided against risking Chiesa and including the Italian for their trip to the capital due to him not feeling well.
If fully recovered, he could come back into contention for the visit of Leicester City to Anfield on Boxing Day.