Arne Slot believes Federico Chiesa offered more than could be expected on his long-awaited first Premier League start in Monday’s 3-2 loss at Brighton.
Italy forward Chiesa was the only new arrival after Slot succeeded Jurgen Klopp at Anfield last summer but has been a peripheral figure since his £10 million switch from Juventus.
With champions Liverpool having clinched the title at the end of last month, the Euro 2020 winner was finally handed his full top-flight debut as part of four changes from last weekend’s 2-2 draw with second-placed Arsenal.
Chiesa, who has featured just six times in the league overall, had minimal impact at the Amex Stadium as the Reds twice surrendered a lead to suffer a fourth league defeat of the campaign.
Mohamed Salah missed an open goal to put the visitors 3-1 ahead before second-half finishes from substitutes Kaoru Mitoma and Jack Hinshelwood secured the three points for the eighth-placed Seagulls after Harvey Elliott and Dominik Szoboszlai struck either side of Yasin Ayari’s initial leveller.
“The biggest quality Federico has is scoring goals,” said Slot.
“So the more you get him in and around the box, the bigger chance it is for him to score.
“He got a good chance just before Mo had his big chance. For him to have an open shot from the 18-yard box is for Federico a very good chance because he’s such a great finisher.
“I think he did even more than I could expect from him because if you haven’t played throughout the whole season, hardly ever had any starts, and then to play Brighton away – which is a very good team, number eight of the league that can bring in Mitoma 20 minutes before the end – that tells you everything about this league.
“For him to be out for so long and play a game like this is more than I could expect from him.”
Liverpool’s travelling fans repeatedly sang Chiesa’s name in the Sussex sunshine before he was replaced by Darwin Nunez with 27 minutes remaining.
Having secured top spot with four games to spare, the Reds are 12 points clear of Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, despite picking up a solitary point from their last three fixtures.
“We won this league because we’ve been so consistent, we’ve done so many things right,” said Slot.
“But we haven’t won it in a way like [Manchester] City did it for the last four seasons where they just could close the eyes and they were 4-0 up.
“We’ve been very close in terms of quality with all the teams we’ve competed with.
“That’s why it’s also such a big compliment that we won this league by such a big margin, because the quality margins are not so much different between us and some other teams.
“To lead by 12 now is a big compliment to our players.”
