Coaching Liverpool as decisions made over Darwin Nunez and Federico Chiesa for Chelsea game

It would be harsh to be overly critical of Arne Slot’s start as head coach of Liverpool when he has won nine of his first 10 games. The one blot on his copybook occurred in the first match back after an international break, though, the situation in which he finds himself this weekend. Should Slot freshen up his starting XI by bringing the likes of Federico Chiesa and Darwin Nunez in to it?

One change which will definitely happen for the visit of Chelsea is Caoimhín Kelleher coming into the side to deputise for the injured Alisson Becker . There is no decision to be made there, just as there isn’t with Harvey Elliott either, with the young midfielder unavailable for a while longer yet.

Chiesa missed the last two games prior to the latest international window, the wins over Bologna and Crystal Palace . “I'm not expecting him to be out for a very long period of time,” was Slot’s verdict ahead of the first of those matches, so whilst his injury status is unclear, he could be an option at Anfield on Sunday.

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Equally, the Italian’s only start for the club occurred in the Carabao Cup against West Ham . This is a very big game in which to be put into a Premier League XI for the first time.

Chiesa’s cause is not helped by being in direct competition for a berth in the side with Mohamed Salah too. The Egyptian played (and scored) against Mauritania last Friday, but then was rested for the return fixture on Tuesday. Having had a week off, Salah will be raring to go against one of his former clubs.

Nunez has been a little more involved than Chiesa, so likely stands a better chance of starting against Chelsea. While it may be coincidence, all three of the Uruguayan’s starts have been in home matches this season. Perhaps Slot trusts him more when Liverpool are likelier to dominate proceedings, which isn’t always the case on the road.

Darwin also has the ability to play more than one position, albeit Slot has only started him as the central forward and not on the left where he has appeared for the Reds in the past. One thing counting against Nunez is that he was the only forward to play 180 minutes in the latest international break. Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo both started two games but were also withdrawn early each time too.

Slot’s selection decisions might be easy after all. But having made no changes to his side for the defeat to Nottingham Forest, he would be wise to at least consider the possibility of a minor shake up.