'He looked': Sky Sports pundit offers honest verdict on Federico Chiesa's PL debut for Liverpool today
Today at 03:00 PM
Liverpool can be satisfied with their day’s work after beating Bournemouth 3-0 at Anfield.
The Reds were under a touch of pressure to make sure they didn’t go a second game without a win on home turf.
But after bouncing back in style against AC Milan on Tuesday, Liverpool put last weekend’s loss against Nottingham Forest truly behind them by blowing the Cherries away.
There was plenty to be pleased about from a Liverpool point of view. Darwin Nunez scored a wonderful goal and Luis Diaz added two more. Meanwhile, Caoimhin Kelleher stepped in brilliantly for the injured Alisson Becker.
Another positive from Saturday was the sight of Federico Chiesa stepping out to make his Premier League debut for the Reds.
Chiesa came off the bench to replace Nunez in the 71st minute and immediately took an ambitious volleyed shot at goal. And after seeing the Italian out on the pitch for another 20 minutes or so, pundit Kris Boyd gave an honest review.
Federico Chiesa given Anfield assessment
Obviously, there was not a great deal to go on from Chiesa here. Liverpool were already secure of the points and the win by the time he came on.
While Bournemouth pushed to try and get themselves at least on the scoresheet, the Reds were happy to keep them at arms length rather than go in search of more goals.
This perhaps did not suit Chiesa, but he still showed flashes of excitement at Anfield.
As well as his decent dipping effort which was straight down Kepa Arrizabalaga’s throat, the 26-year-old also went close with a shot against the post, although he was later ruled to have been offside anyway.
READ MORE: Liverpool player ratings as they beat Bournemouth 3-0 at Anfield
All in all, it was a decent run out for a player who is obviously still very much building his match fitness.
And speaking on Sky Sports News (21/09/24 5.26pm), former Scotland international Kris Boyd claimed that Chiesa had looked ‘a little bit rusty’ during his first appearance at Anfield.
“He [Chiesa] needs games. He looked a little bit rusty," Boyd asserted after full-time.
Will Federico Chiesa player against West Ham?
Clearly, Chiesa is not going to be up to speed just yet. The Italy international did not have a pre-season having been frozen out at Juventus.
Given the competition he has for a place in the Liverpool squad, there is also no rush to get him out on the pitch before he is ready.
Nevertheless, Liverpool do have games coming up quickly now, and they could do with having Chiesa at full fitness.
With the Reds taking a break from Premier League action this midweek, there could be a chance for the former Juve winger to get closer to that with a start against West Ham in the Carabao Cup.
However, we’d suggest that a start is still perhaps slightly out of reach for Chiesa, with the game against Bologna in 11 days times possibly a more likely date for a first appearance on the teamsheet.
