Liverpool just always has something up their sleeve in the dying moments of games to get over the line.
Newcastle United fell victim to the Reds’ never-say-die attitude last month when Arne Slot’s side snatched a 3-2 victory at the death. Now, Burnley have succumbed to the reigning Premier League champions’ unwavering spirit at Turf Moor as well, as a late Mohamed Salah penalty handed Liverpool another dramatic three points.
Salah’s last-gasp spot-kick definitely papered over some noticeable cracks during a 1-0 win, but Slot and Co wouldn’t care one bit right after the match, with Liverpool still sitting pretty at the top of the division as the only side with a 100% record intact.
Still, the manner of the win being so nervy against a newly promoted side will have concerned Slot, with Florian Wirtz’s first-team spot now potentially up for grabs, after the flashy midfielder struggled to get going once more in his new surroundings.
Wirtz's struggles at Liverpool
Indeed, off the back of failing to pick up a goal and an assist again, Wirtz still remains without a goal involvement donning his new Liverpool colours.
The once effortless demeanour of Wirtz lining up for Leverkusen is now gone, with the £116m price-tag above his head doing him no favours, either, when it comes to widespread scrutiny.
He isn’t helping himself, though, with his lacklustre display against Burnley making many question why he cost so much money to bring in.
Staggeringly, from his 87 minutes on the pitch, the below-par German would fail to register a single on-target effort at the Clarets’ net, fail to produce a single successful dribble, and also give the ball away in a lackadaisical manner 21 times.
On another day, his Dutch manager might well have hooked him off sooner, with Slot having no qualms about bringing off another underperformer so early into the tense contest, who was arguably just as poor as Wirtz when looking back at the 1-0 win.
Liverpool's 4/10 star is facing the bench
Thankfully, while the likes of Wirtz did fade in and out of the clash, Slot always knows he can rely on Salah to get his high-flying team out of a spot of bother.
The former Feyenoord boss must have known his team were going to be up against it when assessing Milos Kerkez’s disastrous first-half offering, which led to the 46-year-old amazingly bringing off the former AFC Bournemouth defender with just 38 minutes on the clock.
Away from facing some defensive difficulties in Lancashire, Kerkez was mainly pulled so early on due to his controversial dive, with the new Reds number six rightly booked for trying to deceive the referee.
Slot said afterwards that he was worried that Kerkez could then get sent off, leading to the dependable Andrew Robertson coming on in his place, with a solid shift put in by the Scotsman further troubling the Hungarian’s starting position.
Minutes played
38
52
Goals scored
0
0
Assists
0
0
Touches
34
65
Accurate passes
22/23 (96%)
45/52 (87%)
Key passes
1
5
Total duels won
0/2
2/3
Looking at the table above, minus Kerkez bettering Robertson’s pass accuracy, his more experienced counterpart might well get the nod to start Liverpool’s first Champions League clash of the campaign against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, with Slot well aware he can’t have any rash performers jeopardising the Reds at Anfield on such a big occasion.
Worryingly, Kerkez would fail to win a single duel across his 38 minutes on the pitch, with Liverpool Echo journalist Ian Doyle handing him a low 4/10 rating, having stated that the ex-Cherries full-back looked both “uncomfortable” at the back, but also lacking a threat in the forward areas.
Most importantly, despite these notable off-performances, Liverpool still managed to collect another early-season victory.
But, Atletico Madrid up next will be a far tougher challenge than Parker and Co, as Slot now deliberates whether to axe both Kerkez and Wirtz for European football’s return to Merseyside.
