'I'd expect': Whether Federico Chiesa is set to be in Liverpool's squad to face Newcastle tonight - journalist
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Liverpool go off in search of three more precious Premier League points on Wednesday as they make the long journey to Newcastle.
A trip up North is the first of two tricky-looking away fixtures this week, with Everton next up on Saturday.
But first, Liverpool must send out yet another statement to the Premier League that they aren’t going anywhere.
It is never easy at Newcastle, but the Reds have a remarkably good record at St James’ Park, winning their last three visits to the stadium.
As they aim to make that four, the Liverpool squad is still looking slightly depleted.
Arne Slot revealed on Tuesday that Alisson Becker is not yet ready to play, with Ibrahima Konate, Conor Bradley, Kostas Tsimikas and Diogo Jota all set to miss the game, too. But what of Federico Chiesa.
Federico Chiesa expected to travel with Liverpool
Chiesa’s time at Liverpool has not gone to plan so far. The Italian has played just three times and not since the back end of September.
In the meantime, Chiesa has been working on getting himself up to speed away from the spotlight in the hope of not adding anything further to his chequered injury history.
And after sitting out for more than two months, journalist David Lynch says that the hard work could pay off for Chiesa on Wednesday.
“He’s now back in training. So, he should be available for this trip to Newcastle,” Lynch reports on his YouTube channel.
READ MORE: Italy manager Luciano Spalletti shares what he thinks of Federico Chiesa since joining Liverpool
“Obviously, Liverpool can take the risk of putting him in the squad. I don’t think they’ll hold him back because they are a little bit short of players, that bench is looking a little bit thin.
“So, I’d expect to see Chiesa in the squad to face Newcastle and then back for Everton as well.”
What about Diogo Jota?
While there have been various updates on the progress of Chiesa as he gets himself up to speed at Anfield, there has been less focus on Jota.
The Portuguese has been out for less time that Chiesa, but has still now missed around six weeks of action since going off against Chelsea.
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Jota was spotted in training towards the end of November, but the forward appeared to be only doing individual work.
In the time since, Arne Slot has not been specific when talking about the recovery expectations of Jota.
The 27-year-old is clearly not far away himself, though, and it will be a huge boost to have both he and Chiesa available to bolster the forward line.