Things didn’t go well for Liverpool over the weekend, with the Reds following up their European demolition of Galatasaray last week by stumbling to defeat against Brighton in the league, though with Chelsea also dropping points they end the matchweek still in fifth and the Champions League places.
After the match, players including Federico Chiesea headed off to join their nations for the March international break, with the Italian a surprise inclusion as national manager Gennaro Gattuso tries to nail
down his squad for the World Cup being controversially held this summer in a nation currently engaged in a war of choice.
Chiesa, though, has now been returned to Liverpool, with his national team judging him unfit after his “condition was assessed upon arrival [and] deemed unavailable for the next two matches” according to a release from the Italian National Team following Chiesa’s release from national team duty this month.
In other injured Liverpool international news, Alisson Becker and Mohamed Salah previously were ruled out to travel to join up with Brazil and Egypt, respectively, after picking up injuries last week and missing the game on Saturday. However, striker Hugo Ekitike has joined the France squad despite his injury on Saturday.
Against Brighton, a good start for Liverpool was undermined when Ekitike had to come off with a dead leg following a collision with James Milner. Liverpool’s attacking play took a significant hit as a result, but head coach Arne Slot noted after the match Ekitike “could play tomorrow if he needed to.”
