Premier League
Arne Slot Confirms Diogo Jota Out With Injury Until After International Break
Liverpool will be without Diogo Jota until after the international break, manager Arne Slot revealed on Tuesday, a blow ahead of their fourth-round League Cup match at Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday and amid a grueling stretch of games.
Jota, who has four goals in 10 games across all competitions this season, has not played since suffering a chest injury in the win over Chelsea on October 20. When asked whether he would return before the November international break, Slot said “no”.
Slot also suggested that Federico Chiesa might be facing an extended absence from the pitch. The Italian winger was the club’s only significant signing during the close season but has encountered difficulties since joining from Juventus.
He has appeared in only three matches and hasn’t played in over a month due to ongoing fitness issues.
“It’s always difficult to say because he goes a bit up and down so sometimes he’s there with us and trains a few days and then goes out for an injury again,” Slot said.
“I don’t want to put days or weeks on it because I think we just have to make sure he gets in the best possible shape and don’t put any pressure on him.”
Defender Conor Bradley could feature on Wednesday, Slot said, after a return to full training, a bit of good news for a squad already without both goalkeeper, Alisson (hamstring) and Harvey Elliott (foot) until after the international break.
Slot’s team is one point behind Manchester City in the Premier League standings following their 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Sunday.
The Brighton match comes amid a challenging stretch of seven games in three weeks for Liverpool.
While Slot had the luxury to rotate players in their 5-1 League Cup thrashing of West Ham United last month, numbers have dwindled since then.
“I don’t think it’s possible to do the same as we did against West Ham for the simple reason that we’ve got some injuries, so we don’t have enough players to change them all if I wanted that,” the Dutchman said.
“I think if you look at our schedule and the amount of times we have fewer days to recover apart from our opponent, it might be a moment for us to see some other players, but I first have to see how fit everybody is.”
Brighton currently sits sixth in the league table and secured a 3-2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the League Cup last month.
