Mohamed Salah sends Federico Chiesa message amid Liverpool vs Tottenham decision
What Liverpool require when they face Tottenham Hotspur in Thursday's Carabao Cup semi-final second leg is goals. With the Reds at a goal's disadvantage on aggregate, Mohamed Salah has suggested he is ready to step up to the challenge.
Liverpool were drawn against Spurs for a two-legged contest to determine who would advance to March's Wembley Stadium final with a shot at retaining the Carabao Cup trophy. That dream took a small hit in last month's first leg in London, however, as the opposition snatched a 1-0 advantage under controversial circumstances.
The fact is nothing can be done about that now and all Arne Slot can control is the manner in which his team perform and earn the roar of the Anfield crowd. Being a seasoned veteran of important nights like this, Salah understands this better than most.
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The Reds' 2024/25 top goal contributor is expected to take a starring role once again, and his latest Instagram stories sharing shots of himself in training on Wednesday serve to prove that point.
But there was another interesting facet to point out. In one of his snaps, the Egyptian can be seen deep in conversation with fellow forward Federico Chiesa on the AXA Training Centre's pitches.
The sole summer signing was dropped from last weekend's Premier League win at Bournemouth, with Slot explaining Chiesa's minutes are being managed having completed his first full 90-minute match of the season at PSV Eindhoven last Wednesday.
Salah's post therefore maybe confirms for a match where goals are desperately needed, Chiesa is being called upon. The head coach had said earlier everybody bar Trent Alexander-Arnold would be fit and available for the match.
Spurs may be able to call upon new loan signings Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso for the tie, though as a further boost to the Reds' confidence they will also be without nine players.
One player who definitely won't be playing for Liverpool is Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is set to miss out with a thigh injury."Yeah, he's going to miss the game tomorrow night. And we have to see if he's able to play on Sunday," said Slot.
"But what we do know is he's not available tomorrow night. "You saw he left the pitch with pain in his leg. That's why he will miss the game tomorrow. But he's already on the pitch, not with the team but with the rehab coach.
"Let's see how long it's going to take. We don't have many injuries apart from Trent now for maybe a few days."