Chiesa out of Liverpool’s Champions League match against Bologna but Jota available

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool forward Federico Chiesa will miss the Champions League match against Bologna on Wednesday because of injury but Diogo Jota is available after a minor issue.

Chiesa, who has played only 68 minutes across three matches since joining from Juventus late in the transfer window, sustained an injury in training on Monday, and Liverpool manager Arne Slot said it is enough to rule the Italy international out of contention.

Jota sat out open training but Slot expects the Portugal striker to be fit for the game at Anfield. Another forward, Darwin Nunez, has recovered from the illness which saw him miss the 2-1 win at Wolverhampton in the Premier League on Saturday.

Liverpool, the Premier League leader after six rounds, opened the new-look Champions League with a victory at AC Milan and has seven victories in eight matches in total in Slot’s first season in charge since replacing Jurgen Klopp.

Should the Reds beat Bologna, Slot will become the first manager in the club’s history to win eight of his first nine games at the helm.

Still, the Dutchman sees plenty of room for improvement and highlighted a number of factors in the win at Wolves that he was not happy with.

“We, as a team, if you have so much quality, you cannot accept mediocrity,” he said. “You have to ask from yourself every second of the day, every second of the game, the highest standards that this shirt brings. I and we as a staff have to set those standards very clear and that last 15 minutes when we lost the ball so many times in promising positions or moments that could lead to promising positions is maybe not acceptable.

“I don’t lose my temper that much, I don’t think it is a good idea to lose your temper every single day because it doesn’t work. But the positive thing is that maybe I don’t accept mediocrity but these players themselves don’t accept it as well.”

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