Arne Slot’s Liverpool will have to postpone their Premier League title celebrations by at least another week following this weekend’s results. However, many fans are more focused on a controversial decision made by the Dutch manager ahead of the Leicester City fixture.
Despite Liverpool beating Leicester 1–0 at the King Power Stadium, Arsenal’s earlier 4–0 win over Ipswich Town meant that the title race remains open, delaying any potential celebrations for the Reds.
One major talking point among supporters was Federico Chiesa’s absence from the matchday squad—especially puzzling considering Trent Alexander-Arnold made an immediate return after recovering from injury. According to the Liverpool Echo, there’s no indication that Chiesa is injured. Instead, Slot simply chose to leave him out of the 20-man squad for the trip to the relegation-bound Foxes.
Chiesa, who joined from Juventus last summer, has had a frustrating spell in England, mostly due to injuries. Even after returning to fitness, he’s rarely featured—overshadowed by the likes of Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, and Cody Gakpo. So far, the 27-year-old Italian international has only made 12 appearances this season, totaling just 395 minutes across all competitions.
While fans never expected him to start every match, many are questioning why the £150,000-a-week winger was omitted while Darwin Nunez—whose form and work rate have been under fire—was included. One supporter commented, “Dropped Chiesa for a guy who doesn’t want to be here?”—referring to Alexander-Arnold’s rumored summer move to Real Madrid.
Another fan expressed confusion: “Sad to see no Federico Chiesa on the bench. What a strange scenario.” A third added: “Slot’s treatment of a player with Chiesa’s talent is rather worrying to me, I can’t lie.”
Some fans are urging journalists to press Slot on the issue, questioning the logic behind consistently excluding a player capable of changing a game. One user wrote: “Is a journalist of some sort ever gonna question Slot on his decision to constantly ignore Chiesa?”
Others empathized with Chiesa, who has yet to start a Premier League match, saying it feels unfair to sign him only to keep him sidelined all season: “This Chiesa situation is taking the p*** now – why bring him in to completely shun him for the season? Feel bad for the lad.”
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