Arne Slot gave little indication he is planning to start Federico Chiesa as a striker after his goal last time out, despite Liverpool supporters hoping for a change.
Chiesa netted a late consolation off the bench in the Carabao Cup final defeat to Newcastle, with Slot having seen both Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez misfire.
With none of Liverpool’s three regular options in the No. 9 role – Jota, Nunez and Luis Diaz – impressing of late, there have been increasing calls for the Italian to start centrally.
But Slot’s comments on Chiesa coming into starting contention ahead of Wednesday’s Merseyside derby were not exactly convincing.
Asked if he saw the 27-year-old playing more of a role between now and the end of the season – having only started three of his 11 appearances so far – the head coach gave no guarantee.
“It wasn’t only that I didn’t see a lot of him during training sessions because we had so many games, it was also because he was more than he wanted – more than we wanted – injured,” Slot said of Chiesa’s struggle to break in.
“But it was good to see that he impacted the game when he came in [against Newcastle].
“That is what has happened a lot this season already, that when players come in they impact the game.
“The assist was from Harvey Elliott, who has impacted the game a few times now in the last three or four matches.
“So it’s good to see that all these players are ready, and that is partly my job, but also partly the players’ job to stay ready for the moment we need them.
“He’s in competition with Mo Salah and I don’t think you can deny that Mo has had quite a good season!
“We know we can trust him”
“So that makes it sometimes tough for him, but we know we can trust him the moment we need him.
“Not only him, it’s also all the other ones that maybe haven’t played as much as Mo and Virgil, but we can trust them every time we need them.”
While Slot could spring a surprise against Everton – and he appears intent to at right-back, describing his decision as “something I will keep to myself” – there seems no real change in Chiesa’s situation.
His comments would suggest that the No. 14 is still primarily considered a right winger, with more likelihood of Jota or Diaz starting up front in the derby.
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