Liverpool suffered their second defeat in a row as they were beaten 1-0 by Galatasaray in the Champions League, with Arne Slot’s side now in desperate need of a win against Chelsea
Liverpool are in dire need of a win against Chelsea, following a second consecutive loss that has raised questions about the state of Arne Slot’s team.
The Premier League showdown at Stamford Bridge comes hot on the heels of the Reds’ unexpected 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in the Champions League. Despite hopes that Slot’s side would rebound in Europe after their last-gasp defeat to Crystal Palace the previous weekend, it was another poor display by the league champions, who lost Alisson Becker and Hugo Ekitike to injury during the game.
Even though they kicked off the season with seven straight wins, their performances weren’t always impressive. Slot’s squad needed late goals to secure every victory they achieved, except for their 2-1 win over Everton. The lack of synergy within Slot’s revamped team hasn’t been surprising, given their introduction of multiple new players, including Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, who are still adjusting to life on Merseyside.
But with Slot already being advised to bench one of his star signings and the Dutchman himself acknowledging the disjointedness of his team, here’s all the latest news from Anfield.
Jamie Carragher’s warning
Jamie Carragher delivered a particularly scathing critique of Liverpool’s performances this season in the wake of their shocking loss to the Turkish side, reports the Mirror.
While acknowledging the supreme talents of new additions like Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, the Reds legend conceded that they’ve not only been lacking in attack but have also deteriorated defensively.
The pundit voiced his concerns on CBS following Tuesday’s match, as he said: “Liverpool are not playing football, they are playing basketball. It’s just end-to-end and I don’t think top teams play like that, and I expressed that to the manager early on.
“He’s obviously a fantastic manager, but right now Liverpool went from a top team, but also a workman-like team, and they sprinkled a bit of stardust on it in terms of the transfers they brought in. And they haven’t gained anything going forward, but they’ve lost a lot defensively.
“I think for the manager now, last season was such a smooth ride; he now needs to really earn his money. He did last season, won the Premier League, but there are a few problems he has to fix. It will be really interesting how he goes about it, because he spent a lot of money on certain players.”
Wirtz decision to make
Carragher singled out Wirtz, who hasn’t yet made his mark in the Premier League or Champions League, suggesting that Slot should bench the 22-year-old who arrived in a £116m deal this summer to regain team balance.
“Right now, the balance of the team is not right, and the obvious one that stands out is Florian Wirtz, he is just not at the races at all,” Carragher continued. “He’s a young boy, coming to a new league, and has plenty of time to go.
“But right now, he needs to come out of the team, Liverpool get back to what they were last season, and then go from there to try to build some confidence and some stability. Right now it looks like a mess.”
Slot explanation
Slot has shed light on the challenges facing his Liverpool team, admitting that the lack of consistency in his line-ups is due to several players missing a regular pre-season.
Despite making seven significant signings over the summer, the Dutchman has only named the same starting line-up once this season. This is a stark contrast to the consistency of his selections last term.
The Reds are currently leading the Premier League and are among the favourites for the Champions League, but back-to-back losses to Palace and Galatasaray have highlighted their weaknesses.
In a post-match interview, Slot explained: “What you see is, and I think I explained this many times, is that there are a few players from us that missed pre-season so you simply cannot play them every single [game]. Well, you can but then that could become a risk of players becoming injured.
“We have seen this more and more because the demands go up more and more, and if the demands go up you have to prepare players for these demands. That means that it is not always that I want to rotate but sometimes I need to because a player is not ready to play three times 90 minutes in seven or eight days.”
Echoing Pep Guardiola, Slot expressed his dislike for a 25-man squad, but conceded that the smaller size of his team could pose problems if they were to suffer multiple injuries at the same time.
“I like my squad so much, but we don’t have 25 or 26 [players], so if we end up with two, three or four injuries, 15 or 16 players, where Rio and Trey are two of these 15 or 16, then need to play almost all the minutes and then things can become complicated,” he explained.
“But this is a decision we have made together, I completely believe in this, because if you have 25 [players] it’s very hard to manage your squad. But as a result of that, with Hugo, Alex, Conor and Mac Allister not having the pre-season a player should have, that also results in the fact that I cannot play them every time.”
Ekitike’s injury stance
As though the defeat in Istanbul wasn’t painful enough, Liverpool saw both Alisson Becker and Hugo Ekitike succumb to injuries during the second half.
While the Brazilian’s knock appeared more concerning – he immediately signalled to the bench after making a save from Victor Osimhen – the Reds might catch a break regarding the Frenchman’s situation.
The 23-year-old was withdrawn after stretching for a pass from Dominik Szoboszlai, with Slot revealing he “felt something when he reached for the ball”.
Although scans are needed to determine the severity of the knock, The Athletic reported that Ekitike was “confident” he had merely suffered cramp in his hamstring rather than anything more significant.
The forward’s absence in the upcoming Saturday match against Chelsea will be a significant blow, especially considering their loss to Crystal Palace last weekend when he was serving a suspension.
With five goals this season, Ekitike is the club’s leading scorer, outpacing even Mohamed Salah by two goals.
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