Arne Slot has made seven changes to his midweek squad as the Reds take on Tottenham. Federico Chiesa is missing from the matchday side.

The Italy international made his return on Wednesday night at Southampton, playing the second half of Liverpool's 2-1 victory in the Carabao Cup quarter-final, to make his first appearance since late September.

However, Chiesa has been omitted from Sunday’s squad for the clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Instead, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota are available from the bench, while the chosen front line to start in North London features Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, and Luis Diaz.

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However, the fact that the 27-year-old hasn't travelled should not concern Liverpool fans. Instead the Liverpool Echo and The Athletic report that Chiesa's omission is a tactical decision and not because of an injury setback.

Chiesa’s fitness challenges have frequently been attributed to the absence of a full pre-season, following his cut-price £12m move to Liverpool in late August. His omission from the squad against Spurs reflects a carefully planned approach to gradually bringing the attacker back to peak condition.

After Chiesa's appearance against Southampton on Wednesday, Slot emphasized the importance of the Italian winger gradually building up his match fitness.

"I think what I saw is what you can expect," said the coach when asked on Chiesa. "If a player is out for five or six months, you cannot expect (him to be at his best straight away). I saw ups and downs. I saw some really good moments and I saw some moments where I felt like, ‘OK, you can do better than this’.

"For me, that’s completely normal if a player’s been out for so long, plays his first game in five or six months probably (three months). I already said before that that makes it also so difficult for me because normally in a pre-season a player gets three, four or five games, especially. And then he’s only had four or five weeks now he’s out for so long, so to get him back to his best level is not easy but it was good to see that he showed some quality already today.

"But same for him, like the youngsters, it’s not enough to play at this level. You have to compete with Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo, Lucho (Luis Diaz), Darwin, Diogo (Jota). But it’s good to see that he’s back and he also had a few good moments in the game."