Kicking off our Gameweek 17 Scout Notes is a match that… kicked off.
Two red cards, a costly yellow, a growing Liverpool injury list and the most-bought player of Gameweek 18 all featured in Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-1 home defeat at the hands of the reigning champions.
SZOBOSZLAI BAN + TWO SPURS REDS
Starting with that fateful booking, Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.7m) was the sole player to pick up his fifth caution of the season in Saturday’s Premier League matches.
It rules him out of the plum home fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gameweek 18.
Spurs had their own discipline problems. Xavi Simons (£6.5m) saw red for serious foul play, while Cristian Romero‘s (£5.0m) kick out at Ibrahima Konate (£5.4m) earned him a second booking of the match in second-half injury time.
They’ll miss three and one matches respectively.
TWO MORE ON THE LIVERPOOL INJURY LIST – AT LEAST
It might not just be Szoboszlai who misses the visit of Wolves.
Conor Bradley (£5.0m) came off at half-time, while his replacement, Alexander Isak (£10.3m), had to be helped off after being injured in the process of scoring Liverpool’s opener.
“I don’t have any news on [Alexander Isak] but if a player scores, then gets injured and then doesn’t come back on the pitch and doesn’t try to come back… which Conor Bradley, for example, did, but I had to take him off as well because he couldn’t go on, but if a player doesn’t even try to come back that’s usually not a good thing. But I cannot say anything more than that, that is just [a] gut feeling. Nothing medical to say about it.
“Let’s not be too negative yet. We don’t know yet. Let’s hope [Isak] is back with us soon but difficult to say to you now.” – Arne Slot
To compound the farce, the substitute’s substitute needed to be substituted. Jeremie Frimpong (£5.7m) was bloodied in the closing stages but Slot, at least, gave him the all clear.
“No, Jeremie has no problem at all. I didn’t want to go down to 10 men for 30 seconds. I think this is the only country where if players are injured they need to go off for 30 seconds, with a head injury [it is] even 45, so I adapted to that. I knew there wasn’t long to play and I thought we struggled a lot with our plus one, so playing 10-v-10 for half a minute with him being on the floor, yes or no, then we just go with Federico [Chiesa].” – Arne Slot on Jeremie Frimpong
We say “at least” two Liverpool injuries not because of Frimpong but because Florian Wirtz (£8.0m) appeared to be holding his hamstring in injury time. He came off soon after.
Neither manager nor player made mention of it post-game, while reports suggest cramp may be the issue.
LIVERPOOL TEAM FOR GAMEWEEK 18?
If Isak and Bradley join Szoboszlai on the sidelines (although there is optimism about Bradley), might we see something like this in Gameweek 18 (this could be a 4-4-2 diamond with Federico Chiesa (£6.3m) and Hugo Ekitike (£8.8m) up top)?
One thing worth mentioning from north London is that when Frimpong came on, he was used on the right wing, with Szoboszlai at right-back! A sign that Slot simply doesn’t trust Frimpong as an orthodox full-back? It at least boosts the defender’s chances of an attacking return, and it was Frimpong indeed who assisted Liverpool’s second goal.
DEMAND SURGES FOR EKITIKE
Ekitike’s fifth goal in three Gameweeks has seen demand surge again for his services. Already bought by over one million managers in Gameweek 17, he’s way ahead of the pack for Gameweek 18 transfers in:
It’s not just the goals in his favour but Igor Thiago‘s (£7.1m) recent lack of them (many are making the move across), Isak’s injury and Liverpool’s upcoming fixtures:
Due to a shortage of service, this was one of his quieter displays after the barrage of shots in the last two Gameweeks. His header was his only effort of the game but it was a well-taken one, while he ‘assisted the assister’ for Isak’s strike.
NEITHER SIDE CONVINCES
Wirtz continues to grow more impressive with each game, while it’s interesting to monitor Alexis Mac Allister‘s (£6.2m) output in a more advanced role. While not particularly excelling on the eye, he’s had five shots in the last two Gameweeks, four of them in the area.
Really, though, this again wasn’t a great advert for Liverpool. A week after they fluked a clean sheet against Brighton, they ended up on the ropes from the nine men of Spurs. Virgil van Dijk‘s (£5.9m) air-kick led to Richarlison (£6.4m) busting this week’s shut-out.
The Lilywhites were themselves bang average in a game of few real openings but they showed spirit at least, with Randal Kolo Muani (£6.9m) going close with an early header and a deflected shot that looped onto the bar. Goal attempts and crosses peppered the Liverpool box late on, too.
Spurs, indeed, outshot and out-xG-d their visitors, despite the numerical disadvantage:
One of Spurs’ more creditable home defeats, then, but a defeat all the same – and they remain 17th in the home league table this season.
