Arne Slot’s sacking must have received a warm response in certain sections of the Liverpool dressing room, but few had more reason to be pleased than Federico Chiesa.

Though the Dutchman was responsible for bringing Chiesa to Anfield, along with Richard Hughes, Slot also quickly decided that he was not a player who could be relied upon. The Italian made 50 appearances under the former Liverpool head coach, but made only three starts in the Premier League.

To make matters worse for Chiesa, his injury has meant that he has let another chance to make himself important slip away. Had he been fit, the 28-year-old probably would have started up front after injuries to Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo.

Instead, Lewis Koumas has grasped his opportunity with both hands, and after the Liverpool academy graduate scored and assisted against LASK on Wednesday, Chiesa must have felt further away from the starting XI than ever.

Lewis Koumas has taken Chiesa’s chance

Hugo Ekitike’s Achilles injury and Liverpool’s failure to sign the extra winger they wanted both must have played a part in Chiesa staying with the Reds for a third season this summer.

Capable of playing in any of the three forward positions, the former Juventus man can definitely be valuable to Iraola, and going into pre-season there had been a feeling that he was perhaps even the first back-up to Isak. Certainly he had been ahead of Koumas in the reckoning.

The Welshman was not really seen by anybody as being a legitimate candidate to get playing time, and though Iraola has claimed that he decided early on that Koumas would stay, he surely saw Chiesa as a more serviceable option initially.

Isak getting injured so early into the season should have opened the door for the Italy international to finally get some rhythm and some game time under his belt.

But while Koumas was cementing himself as the preferred choice for the time being in Linz, Chiesa was likely at home on Merseyside, not even included in the Champions League squad.

Part of the responsibility for that obviously falls on the player himself. He could have offered more in the chances that he has had and his fitness has again become a major concern. But, by and large, much of his Liverpool career so far – or lack of one – has been to do with luck. It has just not been on his side. Chiesa could have been breaking out as a key man in Iraola’s squad, instead, he now looks even more of a spare part.

Chiesa has to make an impact vs Brentford

For all that he looks to have dropped out of Iraola’s thinking while being injured, Chiesa should still have some hope that he can fight his way into a bigger role under the Basque.

He did get his first minutes of the season late on against Manchester City on Sunday, and though playing would have been better for him, he will at least be rested and eager to go again when Liverpool visit Brentford this weekend.

If Isak and Gakpo don’t make it – as looks likely for now – Iraola may decide that Koumas is his man again. But the tireless 21-year-old has played 165 minutes in four days, all while running himself into the ground. Not used to playing at such a high level so regularly, he could maybe do with a rest.

In that case it should not be Chiesa who comes in, rather Victor Munoz or Bradley Barcola, but there is still a strong possibility that as others recover from the midweek trip, the Italy international could be turned to at some stage.

If he does get on the pitch, then Chiesa simply has to make it count. Though he has missed his first big chance to impress Iraola, the Spanish coach is still working out his pecking order at Liverpool, and good displays, for however long they might be, can help propel Chiesa up it.

For those desperate to see him make it work at Anfield, this has been one of the more frustrating episodes of a Liverpool career jam-packed full of them. But Chiesa’s luck has surely got to turn at some point. After the low of watching from home as his young understudy wrote his name in lights, he has to strike back as quickly as possible.