Liverpool faces another setback despite a dominant win over Marseille, moving closer to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
On 22 January 2026, Arne Slot, Liverpool’s manager and Premier League fourth-place team leader, shared the latest bad news after the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League group stage matchday 7, where Liverpool defeated Olympique Marseille 3-0 away.
This victory took Liverpool to 15 points, placing them fourth in the UEFA Champions League standings, guaranteeing a playoff spot as a seeded team. They still have a chance to qualify automatically for the Round of 16 if they finish among the top eight. Their final group match will be at home against Qarabağ on 28 January.
However, Liverpool, unbeaten in 13 consecutive matches in all competitions, received bad news when Italian international forward Federico Chiesa suffered a recurring injury during warm-up before the Marseille game, leading to his last-minute removal from the substitute list.
Arne Slot described Chiesa's condition: “Two or three minutes after you left yesterday, he walked out of training. We brought him with us because we didn’t think it was a long-term injury.”
“Since we stayed here overnight, we thought it would be good for him to receive treatment here. We hoped he might be fit in time, but that was not the case. He tried during warm-up but couldn’t play, which is why he wasn’t on the bench.”
Currently, Liverpool has six injured players: Federico Chiesa, Alexander Isak, Conor Bradley, Giovanni Leoni, Jayden Dance, and Stefan Bajcetic.
