Liverpool have headed into the first international break of the season in excellent condition.
The Reds have won their first three Premier League games of the campaign without even so much as conceding a goal.
There will be greater tests to come for Liverpool, but with the team looking so good, fans will be disappointed to have to endure a pause in play.
Despite the break, though, there is still plenty to get excited about. Many of the Liverpool squad are away on international duty, with Alexis Mac Allister scoring for Argentina on Friday morning.
One who has been left back on Merseyside is Federico Chiesa. And having not been called up for Italy, the 26-year-old was put through his paces at the AXA Training Centre on Thursday.
Federico Chiesa trains with the U21s
It was a bit of a surprise to see that Chiesa had been out on the training pitches in Kirkby on Thursday.
The Italian will of course spend next week training with Arne Slot and those left behind from international duty.
But in the meantime, it had perhaps been expected that Chiesa would take some time off and acclimatise to his new surroundings.
Not so, as it turns out. Instead, the former Juventus man was out to train with Barry Lewtas and his U21s.
And speaking to Liverpoolfc.com about what he’d noticed from Chiesa during the session, Lewtas was full of praise for the Reds’ new No.14.
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“Obviously you can see from the quality of his career so far, this is why he’s at one of the best clubs in the world,” says the coach. “His professionalism and his quality was really good.
“It obviously just gives our boys a little bit of a chance to play against someone of that quality [and] it’s a really good learning opportunity for them.”
Touching on why Chiesa was training with the academy boys, Lewtas said that it was purely for fitness reasons.
“Obviously with Federico, we’ve done this a number of times now [where] we’ll bring boys round, and it gives him a chance to build his fitness and get him ready for the season as well,” he says.
Who else is still around at Liverpool?
There are 20 members of Slot’s first-team squad away all around the world this week. That does not leave many besides.
Chiesa is one who will obviously be with the head coach, as will Darwin Nunez. Nunez has a real chance to get to grips with Slot’s system having been handed a five-game ban for Uruguay.
Joe Gomez is another who is still around having been left out of Lee Carsley’s first England squad.
Meanwhile, Curtis Jones is set to be fit to face Nottingham Forest and may be spotted around the training ground, too.
From the senior players, that’s it!
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