Arne Slot has played down any fears over Federico Chiesa’s fitness at Liverpool - despite the Italian picking up a ‘knock’ during the defeat to PSV Eindhoven.

Chiesa made just his second start for the Reds on Wednesday night as Liverpool secured top spot in the league phase of the Champions League, despite falling to a 3-2 defeat in the Netherlands.

It has been something of a frustrating start to life on Merseyside for the 27-year-old, with a lack of fitness following his move from Juventus limiting his opportunities - he had made just seven appearances before Wednesday night, most of them short cameos from the bench.

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Chiesa though managed to put some of the concerns from his first few months at Liverpool behind him as he played the full 90 minutes in Eindhoven, and impressed in the process. His display wasn’t completely devoid of scares though.

Chiesa had fans a little concerned after he stayed down having been fouled by Joey Veerman to win a penalty for the Reds, from which Cody Gakpo gave the visitors the lead. The Italy international would be able to shake off that concern, and give his boss another major positive heading into a crucial February for Liverpool.

“He got a knock with the penalty so that took him a few minutes before he got going again,” Slot said on Chiesa’s performance.

“But I think it’s been seven, eight or nine months ago – maybe even longer, I don’t know exactly – since he played 90. It’s the same for Jayden Danns, it was the same for James McConnell.

“So, we had quite a lot of players that were not used to playing so many minutes in the last six or seven months. So it’s especially for them also important that they make these 90 minutes and were able to keep competing during 90 minutes.

“OK, Jayden couldn’t manage to play the whole game, but Federico in the end was still sprinting, trying to do his work. So, positive.”

Liverpool.com says: Seeing Chiesa stay down after that challenge was a worrying moment to say the least, given his injury record in recent years. Thankfully, it looks like it was nothing serious, and he gave a good glimpse of what he can offer for the rest of the season as the Reds chase some silverware.

It would be great to see him being given more of a chance with a stronger Liverpool side, although that is obviously going to be difficult for him to achieve with Mohamed Salah ahead of him. Still, Chiesa has proven he could play a big part in this season’s title charge.