What next for Federico Chiesa?

The Italian scored off the bench at Wembley on Sunday but has been underused since arriving at Anfield last summer.

Photo: IMAGO | Anfield Index

Arne Slot and his coaching staff won’t be short of regrets after their first cup final appearance with Liverpool ended in defeat to Newcastle.

But you wonder whether the fact that Federico Chiesa was only given 15 minutes at Wembley will be chief among them.

Changing a winning team makes little sense and so it would, of course, have been the shock of the season to see the Italian come in for this game.

However, in scoring to give the Reds a chance at mounting a late comeback, Chiesa showed why he has perhaps deserved to be closer to the starting XI for a while now.

Despite being introduced so late in the day, the 27-year-old took more touches in the opposition area (5) than any other Liverpool player, while only Newcastle’s Harvey Barnes took more from either side (6) across the entire 90 minutes.