Why Florian Wirtz is not playing for Liverpool against Nottingham Forest

Florian Wirtz pulled out of Liverpool’s clash against Nottingham Forest

The attacking midfielder was named in the Reds’ starting line-up for the Premier League clash at the City Ground. But after warming up, Wirtz was omitted from Arne Slot’s team, with Curtis Jones the late replacement.

Liverpool battled to a 1-0 victory, with Alexis Mac Allister scoring a 97th-minute goal as the Reds moved level on points with Chelsea and Manchester United in the battle for Champions League qualification.

Wirtz has been a key player for Liverpool this season, recording six goals and eight assists in 34 games since signing from Bayer Leverkusen for an initial £100 million.

The Germany international joined Jeremie Frimpong, Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo, Alexander Isak and Giovanni Leoni among the players Liverpool have unavailable, as well as youngsters Jayden Danns and Stefan Bajcetic.

Speaking after the game, Reds head coach Slot said: “We don’t think it is very serious. He felt his back too much during the warm-up to start. He wasn’t able to be 100 per cent or close to 100 per cent.

“I think after being in this league for six, seven or eight months that no matter how good you are on the ball, you need to be 100 per cent at this level. So we decided not to play him but hope and expect him to be with us next week.”