Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has admitted that Federico Chiesa's absence from action has inadvertently helped Mohamed Salah tally up a staggering goal return this season.

The Egyptian forward's virtuoso performances have helped to catapult the Reds to the top of the Premier League and Champions League standings so far this term. The 32-year-old is enjoying some of the best form of his career to date with an incredible 21 goals and 17 assists in 27 outings across the campaign.

Despite his advancing years, the right-winger is second to only captain Virgil van Dijk in terms of game time in 2024-25, having tallied up 2,240 minutes on the field. Now, manager Slot has confessed that his incredible output in front of goal this season may have been aided by the lack of a fit back-up in his position.

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Having signed Chiesa from Juventus over the summer, the hope will have been that the Italian would have been able to serve as Salah's understudy this term. However, the attacker's short spell at Anfield has been beset by injury so far with the 27-year-old having only played four times in all competitions.

With Chiesa having been limited to 123 minutes so far this term after being sidelined for much of the campaign, teammate Salah has been a near ever-present in Slot's side. Now, Slot has made the shrewd observation that the Egyptian's goalscoring record this term is similar to that of left-wing peers Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz.

The pair been rotated in the role throughout the campaign, they have played a combined 3,111 minutes - contributing 24 goals between them in that time. With this in mind, Slot asserted in a press conference before the clash with Tottenham in the Carabao Cup semi-final: "I understand how much focus is on Mo's performance.

"But if you combine the goals of Lucho [Diaz] and Cody [Gakpo] as a left winger, they come quite close. Mo's advance is because of Federico he's playing first until last minute. Part of the success is quality and part is the playing style."

Meanwhile, the Dutchman updated supporters on whether the club is planning to enter the market this winter for any reinforcements. Explaining his position on whether there will be any new arrivals in January, he said: "It would be a bit weird if I told you something different than we are happy with team.

"But we always look at the market. If there's a chance this club always brings something in. Joe Gomez injury means we go from four CBs to three. I'm very happy with the team and that is trust from the club."

As for his plans in terms of the line-up to face Spurs in the first leg of the Carabao Cup last four, Slot added: "I said there are many considerations you make before you make a line-up. We might play a few players that haven't played all the games and a few players that have played all the games. Today is the first time we train since United. Let's see."