We kick off our UEFA Champions League notes with a much-needed win for Liverpool in Milan.
From spot-kicks to a certain absent Egyptian, we’ll cover the key Fantasy takeaways from their victory.
RESULT
| Team | Opponent | Result | Goals | Assists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | Inter Milan (a) | 1-0 win | Szoboszlai pen | Wirtz |
SELECTION/ROTATION
| Team | Changes from GW15’s starting XI | Players who kept their places (mins played) | Mins for other players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 4 | Alisson (90), Konate (90), van Dijk (90), Gravenberch (90), Szoboszlai (90), Jones (90), Ekitike (90) | Robertson (90), Mac Allister (90), Isak (68), Gomez (68), Bradley (22), Wirtz (22) |
SZOBOSZLAI ON PENS?
We had a ‘Who will take Liverpool penalties in the absence of Mohamed Salah (£14.0m)?’ article pencilled in for this week.
The Reds saved us a lot of the legwork on Tuesday.
Arne Slot’s side were given an 88th-minute penalty when Florian Wirtz (£8.0m) had his shirt pulled in the Inter box, and up stepped Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.6m).
The Hungarian midfielder scored, netting his first-ever (non-shootout) spot-kick for the Reds.
He’s not, however, a complete newbie from 12 yards. On the contrary: his record is excellent, with a 95.2% success rate for Hungary, the Red Bull clubs and elsewhere. He netted in the Community Shield shootout in August, too.
“Again, he played a good game and he stood up in a difficult moment. Because it’s not easy, 86 minutes, your first penalty for Liverpool, I think – maybe in the [Community] Shield, so in other moments. But during a game, on 0-0, so that’s a special moment. But he has a great shot and he delivered because he takes a lot of penalties for the national team and for his former clubs as well.” – Arne Slot on Dominik Szoboszlai
So, then, is Szoboszlai first in line for spot-kicks when Salah is out of contention?
The caveats are that Alexander Isak (£10.4m), a regular taker at Newcastle United, had already been subbed off by the time Liverpool’s penalty was awarded. Cody Gakpo (£7.5m), currently sidelined, also took one in January when Salah was off the field.
So, there could be other pretenders to the throne. But the quote below suggests that Szoboszlai was at least an agreed taker somewhere in the pecking order, and the decision wasn’t a hasty one made on-field.
“We just waited for a decision to be honest. I wasn’t really involved. I just focused on myself because I knew that if it’s penalty I was going to take it, so that’s what was in my head.” – Dominik Szoboszlai on the VAR delay before his spot-kick
The Hungary international also has a better historic record than his teammates:
| Penalty record | |
|---|---|
| Dominiz Szoboszlai | 20/21 (95.2%) |
| Cody Gakpo | 9/10 (90%) |
| Alexander Isak | 19/25 (76%) |
ISAK + EKITIKE UP TOP TOGETHER
With Gakpo and Salah out, Slot went width-less with his set-up at the San Siro.
It saw Isak and Hugo Ekitike (£8.4m) play up front together for the first time, at the top of a 4-4-2 diamond (below image from BBC Sport).
Alexis Mac Allister (£6.2m) was at the top of the diamond, but that’s a role you could envisage Wirtz – a substitute here – taking.
With width lacking in the absence of Salah (off to AFCON soon, regardless of what happens internally) and Gakpo, could this be the way forward over winter?
We’ve been used to Isak and Ekitike sharing game-time during the busy last few weeks and months. But with generous periods of rest between the next four Gameweeks, and no cup involvement, we might see a more settled XI. Ergo, a greater chance of the two playing together.
Above image from Amazon Sport
It should be said, however, that Isak was, again, poor. It looks like he’s playing with vertigo at times, struggling to stay upright and keep hold of the ball. Liverpool looked better when Wirtz came on midway through the second half.
So, still no guarantees of sustained Isak game-time even in a two-striker system!
DEFENCE-FIRST FOR SLOT?
This performance was less about attacking swagger anyway. Conor Bradley (£5.0m) had an effort saved at the near post, an improved Ibrahima Konate (£5.4m) saw a header harshly chalked off for handball, and Isak finished wildly after a good bit of pressing and dispossession. Other than that, though, few gilt-edged openings before the penalty.
Liverpool’s primary goal seemed to be to shut Inter down, and they were successful in doing so. The hosts forced Alisson (£5.4m) into just two saves, while they generated less than 0.5 xG. Lautaro Martinez’s header, pushed away by the Liverpool ‘keeper, was about the best chance amid a procession of speculative shots from distance.
Is defence-first the way forward for Slot after so many goal concessions this season? The decision to bench Salah in the first place was a conservative one, with Szoboszlai offering the defensive contributions off the right flank that the Egyptian tends to fall short on.
Slot, indeed, has repeatedly mentioned in the last few weeks about the improvement defensively. He did it again on Tuesday night:
“So, against Leeds we conceded one chance, like we did today, but against Leeds we conceded three goals because the VAR intervened for a penalty and we conceded a set-piece. Against Sunderland we didn’t even concede a chance until the 96th minute but before that we already conceded a goal by a deflection. So, if you simply look at the last four games, the players have fought so hard, showed so much mentality and I don’t think every time we have got what we deserved lately.” – Arne Slot
SLOT ON SALAH
Finally, we couldn’t get through this article without another word on Salah. Nor could Slot in his post-match media duties, with question after question on the Egyptian arriving.
Clarence Seedorf was the Jeremy Paxman to Slot’s Michael Howard, refusing to let the topic go in the pitchside debrief.
Perhaps the most telling quote was below, which suggests there is still some work to be done before Salah gets back into the first-team picture.
“You say, ‘Everyone makes mistakes in life’. So, the first thing should be: does the player think he’s made the mistake, as well?
“I haven’t said that I’m not going to talk to him; I just said that the focus should be [on the players tonight].” – Arne Slot on Mohamed Salah
