Arne Slot must unleash these three players to end losing streak for Liverpool vs Man Utd
Arne Slot will be looking to get back to winning ways with Liverpool vs Man Utd, these three players have to start.
Liverpool return to Premier League action with the perfect fixture for Arne Slot to get his teeth into seeing Manchester United visit Anfield.
Michael Oliver is the man in the middle in a game that rarely goes by without controversy and/or incident with the Reds boss hoping that the headlines will be about his side finally looking like a title winning team, rather than an expensively assembled failure.
Florian Wirtz has enjoyed a successful international break even if in some quarters of the media he is still being criticised. Alexander Isak may have drawn a blank, but he has minutes in the legs and should be near full fitness.
Three players Slot must play vs United
It seems like a long time ago, however, Liverpool are on a three-game losing streak and a fourth seems unthinkable, especially given the opposition. United are unpredictable, but as shown by Brentford and Man City, if they are attacked, they can be very porous.
Slot needs something to click, one performance, one tweak to the formation and tactics that brings a talented group of individuals who are still well within striking distance at the top of the Premier League.
A good start would be to pick Conor Bradley at right-back and give the Northern Ireland international a run of games. Bradley was suspended for his country’s second game of the break against Germany where he could have been marking Wirtz.
The academy graduate would have loved that challenge, even if Slot and Wirtz might not have enjoyed it quite as much. Just because Jeremie Frimpong might have been signed to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold, it doesn’t mean that he should automatically start with Bradley the more rounded defender.
Who else should Slot go with to get Liverpool back on track
Slot must go with the strongest and most consistent team that he has at his disposal just now and that also means restoring Alexis Mac Allister to the starting XI too.
The Liverpool boss had spoken about the difficulty of finding a settled and balanced XI due to players arriving late in the summer and with others, like Mac Allister and Isak missing most of pre-season training.
That excuse doesn’t wash any more and with Ryan Gravenberch not 100%, the Argentina international, fresh off scoring two goals for his country, should be at the heart of the engine room.
The other absolute is that Wirtz starts after starting on the bench against Chelsea, either at no.10 or on the left wing. An influential performance against United at Anfield would be the perfect tonic for those who claim that the 22-year old isn’t capable of adapting to the Premier League.
The visitors will leave space out wide and between the midfield and defence, perfect for a playmaker who loves nothing better than to drift between the lines and then pick out runners.
Defence and midfield have been an issue in recent weeks but an influential performance from Wirtz could kickstart the whole season and restore belief that retaining the Premier League title is still a possibility.