Arne Slot accused of 'disliking' Federico Chiesa at Liverpool

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Arne Slot has been told he must "dislike" Federico Chiesa to give him such little game time for Liverpool. Chiesa came off the bench in Liverpool's draw with Sunderland on Wednesday night, and produced a goal-saving clearance to prevent the Black Cats from winning the game at the death.

"I gotta say this, Slot really must dislike Chiesa cause it seems like there is nothing he can do to get more playing time," Akinfenwa wrote. "It’s a shame cause he seems like he epitomises the Liverpool way." Slot was asked about Chiesa's goal-saving intervention in his post-game press conference on Wednesday, which came about after the Italian sprinted back 70 yards to prevent Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor from turning the ball into an empty net after rounding Alisson.

Arne Slot is clearly reluctant to hand Chiesa a start Slot said: "Yeah, I think in the final minutes of the game we were close, in my opinion, to making the 2-1 because we had a few set-pieces, were constantly around their box. "The good thing from Fede was that he could have thought, 'Ah, it's nothing for me to do anymore, I'm so far away from the situation.' "But he kept sprinting and Ali [Alisson Becker] moved him to the outside, and as a result of that Fede could clear the ball off the line, which was I think the minimum we deserved tonight and the minimum his effort deserved as well.