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Teenager produced man-of-the-match performance against Villarreal and has learned from Salah, says Reds captain The shot sailed wide of Peter Gulacsi’s top corner and into the Kop, affording Villarreal much-needed respite at 4-2, but for Andoni Iraola it was a standout moment in a scintillating Champions League display from Rio Ngumoha. To a coach that called for versatility from all of his wingers this summer, here was a significant step forward among many from the 18-year-old at Anfield. There were questions over how Ngumoha would adapt to playing on the right even before Liverpool increased the likelihood by signing Bradley Barcola for £123m from Paris Saint-Germain. On his fifth start under Iraola on Tuesday, which his side ultimately won 4-3, Liverpool witnessed an answer: quickly, incisively and confidently. The teenager’s willingness to cut inside from the right and shoot from distance with the left foot captured Iraola’s imagination as much as the devastating run that created Alexis Mac Allister’s second goal of the game. “I’m happy with his attitude because he’s eager to improve the things that we think he needs to improve,” said the Liverpool head coach after the comeback win against their Spanish opponents. “He has played a lot on the right lately. He’s feeling so comfortable now that he’s even adding some shots with the left. He hasn’t scored but he’s getting there, and if he can add these small things to his game it will put him in an even better position.” Ngumoha’s 71st-minute attempt was reminiscent of Mohamed Salah in its intent, if not in execution. The Liverpool great’s final season at Anfield may have been the exception to the exceptional in terms of his own contribution but, as an education to a gifted and hungry young winger, it was not wasted. As Virgil van Dijk noted that “a few senior players” have taken Ngumoha under their wing: “I would say Cody [Gakpo] is definitely part of that. Everyone is chipping in but for him to work with Mo last year was obviously massive. Mo was one of the best wingers at the club and experienced everything so why not soak in all the information and show it on the pitch and show your own qualities? I think he has shown it this season but there is still much more to come. He’s pretty electric at times and he showed it again. He was a complete threat constantly and their defender had a tough time.” The Salah comparison was not the only throwback for Liverpool against Villarreal. It was a flawed performance with Van Dijk’s early mistake, Iraola’s initial formation and Liverpool’s lethargy on the ball all punished by Iñigo Pérez’s slick side. “It was a terrible start,” conceded the Liverpool captain. “I think the saying is you fight an uphill battle and as a defender it is pretty difficult to come back from it. I tried but it was a bad day at the office personally but we do it together with 11 players. We turned it around and that’s the main thing.” The rousing recovery, the relentless high press, Iraola’s bold changes and the character required to overturn a 2-0 deficit all carried echoes of the Jürgen Klopp era. Given that was where Liverpool wished to return when replacing Arne Slot with the Basque coach this summer, Iraola’s 11th game in charge showed development is not confined only to Ngumoha. Van Dijk said: “If you look at it from that perspective, it is like that. We train a lot, tactically as well, but because there are so many games you learn playing games and this was a test in that sense because Villarreal were good on the ball. They also rotated a lot so you have to find moments when you can press them and when you can win the ball high. “Is this squad used to that [pressing style] because I don’t think many players have been part of that? What the manager wants us to do is something which resonates with Liverpool and it is down to us to show it in each and every game. It’s not easy, it’s demanding, but if you want to win games and win games in the Liverpool way then we have to do it. The first half was obviously not good at all and the second half was solid and we turned it around and that’s a good sign. Now we have to get ready for Brighton, a super team, which is coming.”

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Andoni Iraola and Iñigo Pérez parked their long and close friendship in the buildup to the Champions League duel between two old Athletic Bilbao teammates. They will have a humdinger of a contest to dissect when communications are restored. Liverpool, driven by Alexis Mac Allister and ignited by Rio Ngumoha, recovered from two goals down against Villarreal to maintain their 100% record in the competition in emphatic style. Mac Allister struck twice as Liverpool fought back from a tepid start to record a third successive win in all competitions. They were given a scare when Tani Oluwaseyi volleyed in a late third for Villarreal but were well deserving of their latest impressive result. The regular phone calls between Iraola and Pérez had eased off as their first competitive confrontation as coaches approached. Iraola could have advised his close friend to bring a coat had they kept in touch. It had rained incessantly in Liverpool all day yet the Villarreal head coach opted for a short-sleeved polo shirt on the touchline. A brave move, although he would have been warmed by his team’s potent start against a much-changed host. Liverpool’s expensive attacking trio of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola were all on the bench as Iraola made six changes to the side that beat Brentford on Saturday. A fourth game in 10 days explained the omissions of Wirtz and Barcola, who had featured heavily in the previous three, while Isak’s workload was being carefully managed after his recent thigh injury. The rotation resulted in a second successive Champions League start for Trey Nyoni and Ryan Gravenberch shifting forward into Wirtz’s number ten role. Iraola’s rejigged team did not have time to find their rhythm before falling behind. An error-strewn start by Van Dijk was responsible, and also in keeping with a ponderous opening half hour from Liverpool in which Villarreal passed their way around Anfield with style and precious little resistance. The Liverpool captain presented Georges Mikautadze with an opportunity as early as the second minute when he misjudged a long clearance out of defence by Renato Veiga. Van Dijk’s poor touch almost released the Georgia international striker through on goal but Jérémy Jacquet was across quickly to close off that route. Van Dijk’s second slip followed moments later, and this time there was no reprieve. The defender attempted to head another Veiga long ball back into the safe arms of Alisson. He found Mikautadze instead and Villarreal’s number nine pounced expertly, controlling well before rolling the ball under the Liverpool keeper. There were apologies all round from Van Dijk. Villarreal doubled their lead with a goal that encapsulated the start made by both teams – the visitors passing their way through Liverpool’s midfield and picking holes in their high defensive line, with the home side slow to react. Pape Gueye, Alberto Moleiro and Nathan Saliba all combined to send their rampaging left back, Sergi Cardona, clear of the Liverpool backline. Played onside by Kostas Tsimikas, the full-back beat Alisson with a finish a striker would have been happy with. Cardona’s defending was much less impressive as Liverpool, stung more by their own performance than the groans of the Anfield crowd, clawed their way back into the contest before half-time. The recovery commenced when Mac Allister rose superbly to meet a Tsimikas corner and flicked an unstoppable header into the unguarded side of Peter Gulacsi’s goal. The former Liverpool keeper could only stand and admire the midfielder’s header, while asking where a Villarreal challenge was. Villarreal had bigger questions to answer when their once comfortable lead vanished entirely with the final kick of the first half. The visitors had dealt with another corner from Tsimikas when Rio Ngumoha gathered possession and clipped a cross towards the far post. Cardona checked his surroundings, then inexplicably let the ball bounce behind him. And right into the spot where Ronald Araújo was lurking. The on-loan defender headed home for the second successive week in the Champions League and celebrated with a mass pile-on with fans in the Anfield Road Stand. Araújo failed to appear for the second half as Iraola introduced Wirtz and moved Gravenberch once again, this time to right back. The Liverpool head coach must have been sorely tempted to shake things up more, such was the paucity of his team’s first half display, but his half-time switch and demands sufficed. Liverpool improved vastly after the restart with Ngumoha and Wirtz a constant threat. Pérez’s substitutions were less impactful and the former Newcastle forward Ayoze Pérez was the object of his ire on several occasions. Ngumoha took the acclaim of the Kop after creating Mac Allister’s second of the night with a sparkling run down the right. It was some one-two that brought Liverpool the lead. Mac Allister floated a pass out to the 18-year-old winger, whose first touch brought the ball under control and took him away from Cardona in the same movement. He then left the substitute Juan Foyth in his wake before pulling back a pass from the byline for the incoming midfielder to smash a shot in off the underside of Gulacsi’s crossbar. Wirtz completed the comeback, continuing his own recent improvement, after Tsimikas and Cody Gakpo had combined to create space for the playmaker inside the area. The Germany international drilled a clinical left-foot finish inside the Villarreal keeper’s far corner.

UEFA Champions League·4–3

This is a match between Liverpool and Villarreal. One of the top teams in England versus one of the top teams in Spain. The Premier League versus La Liga. The Redmen versus the Yellow Submarine. And yet it’s really none of that. Some things go down to the micro level, as Sid Lowe explains with trademark eloquence in the first part (there will be more, and you will enjoy it) of your required pre-match reading … Andoni Iraola versus his close compadre Iñigo Pérez kicks off at 8pm BST. Hasi da! It’s on!

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Refused a work permit at Bournemouth, Pérez comes face to face with Liverpool’s head coach in Champions League On Iñigo Pérez’s first day as a head coach he took a call from Andoni Iraola, just as he had every day for months. They had known each other for 22 years, lived in the same residency, come through the same academy and played in the same team; they had worked side by side, manager and assistant, and embarked on an adventure together. Now, though, Pérez was having to go it alone. At 36, he had become what his friend thought he would be from the moment they met, just not so soon. “He wished me luck and said he was there for me,” Pérez said, “said that if I ever needed anything …” “Sometimes life brings what you never imagined,” Pérez said after his coaching debut. Now he is off to Anfield. It’s funny the way it goes. Had he not been denied a work permit by the Home Office, had a Football Association panel not declared him incapable of contributing to English football, a partnership broken and a family turned back, a career seemingly derailed from the start, Villarreal’s manager wouldn’t be sitting on the bench to the left of the halfway line at Anfield tonight. He would be sitting on the bench to the right. This time, the man who should have been Iraola’s assistant is instead his opponent, nothing given for 90 minutes. “I’m looking forward to seeing him; we speak continuously, always there,” Pérez says. “To encounter each other pitchside is emotional. When the referee blows, it all ends, but it’s a very nice story.” The story starts in 2002, when Pérez arrived at Athletic Club Bilbao’s academy, aged 14. Iraola was 19, six months from his first‑team debut. They first played together in the first team in October 2009 but, teenagers and tenants, something had already drawn them together and would do again. If Pérez was more open, Iraola more private, timid even, there was much they shared: an inquisitive mind, an ability to observe and listen, a humility befitting a club where presumptuousness is prohibited. “Intellectually they’re brilliant,” says a teammate from that time, Carlos Gurpegui, intelligent a word that keeps coming back and with warmth too. “Andoni had a privileged mind and Iñigo was so intuitive. We played [Fantasy Football] and Andoni always won,” the goalkeeper Raúl Fernández recalls. If that gave them natural leadership, it was worn lightly, not imposed. As one coach notes: “If everyone was going left and Andoni said: ‘Go right,’ they’d all be like: ‘Yeah, yeah, go right!’ They are two unusually intelligent guys, always rationalising, able to reach others.” Iraola saw it in the kid coming through, ideas explored together. “Iñigo was always aware of tactical [shifts],” he said later. “At 14 or 15, the way he thought about the game was mature. Ever since I knew Iñigo, I thought he had the personality to be a coach. In fact, he had a clearer idea about being a coach than I did.” David López, who played alongside them, says: “It’s no surprise they became coaches.” Eneko Bóveda, who came through the academy with Pérez, says: “They might have become coaches individually; together, they were bound to. Iñigo was extremely impressive in personal relationships, inside every dressing‑room circle: emotionally intelligent, empathetic.” The age difference was no barrier, a product of their place, the communal culture that made them. “When we reached the first team, that generation [above] was established, but it was very easy to talk to them, even take life advice,” recalls Fernández, born in 1988, like Pérez. “I remember asking Andoni what to do about my contract. Under Marcelo Bielsa, the players would come together before games with a hot chocolate, a croissant and talk. Bielsa was super‑demanding, always at your throat; we took refuge in each other.” Pérez might not have been there at all, unwanted by Bielsa until the training session when he crashed into the goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz. “There was blood everywhere, his lip split open, but Iñigo carries on and Marcelo thinks: ‘I can follow this guy to the end of the world,’” Gurpegui recalls. Picturing the scene, Fernández starts laughing: “Iñigo didn’t know what would happen to him. I seem to remember him even sleeping at Lezama [the training ground] on a mattress, which showed how committed he was. And that day Bielsa was shouting at the physios: ‘Leave him! Leave him! He wants to carry on!’ He’s going to Iñigo: ‘Bravo! Bravo! That’s it, lad!’” An opportunity opened at full‑back and Pérez did what he always did: adapted. Above all, they observed, took it all in. “Iñigo and I would speak a lot about the way Bielsa coached,” Iraola recalled. They would ask endless questions of assistants Claudio Vivas, Pablo Quiroga and Diego Reyes, always wanting to know why . “But then they’re football nutcases who learned from everything,” Boveda says. Their last game together was in October 2013. Iraola retired in 2016 and started coaching two years later. Unseen, Pérez was drifting in the same direction. Common friends and a shared agent meant they were never far away and in February 2022 they crossed paths again. Pérez didn’t play when Osasuna won 3-0 at Rayo but their conversation that night stuck in Iraola’s mind, a mental note made. Aged 34, Pérez had told Iraola his role now was really about helping the coaches. Indeed, Osasuna’s manager Jagoba Arrasate was already referring to him as a “player-assistant coach” and soon invited him to join the staff. Bielsa approached him too, furious when Pérez turned down Uruguay. When Iraola heard Pérez was retiring, he called immediately, convincing him to come to Rayo. The assistant coach Unai Mendia was leaving and his old teammate was perfect. The impression made was immediate: “Iñigo’s top,” a member of Rayo’s coaching staff says. “He was special, a phenomenon. Super‑elite, like Andoni.” Together with the fitness coach Pablo de la Torre, who constructed a physical model around which the whole, wild ride was built, they were a revelation, practitioners of organised chaos. Nowhere was football more fun, a shared vision soon enticed to the Premier League. “When we found out that Andoni was leaving for Bournemouth, I told Iñigo he should be our head coach,” the Rayo striker Sergio Camello recalls, and the club hierarchy agreed. Pérez, though, thought it would be morally wrong: this was Iraola’s construction, not his to take. Besides, he wanted to continue with his friend. Iraola wanted that as well, taking only two staff to England: Pérez and De la Torre. It was a new start, a new life, and he needed his partners there. But then Pérez was denied a work permit. Bournemouth took it to an FA exceptions panel. Supporting letters were sent, a case made. Iraola wrote, too, explaining their history and describing Pérez as “fundamental”. The panel, though, remained unsatisfied that he was “of the highest calibre and able to contribute significantly to the development of the game at the top level in England”. “We did everything we could,” Pérez said, which was true: they even requested a permit as youth‑team coach, earning a telling off for trying it on. As he awaited a final resolution, Pérez kept working: he couldn’t wear a club tracksuit, appear publicly or sit on the bench, but he was at the training ground daily. Until, in the late autumn, they had to admit defeat. That hurt, personally as much as professionally. “It was very difficult, an uncomfortable situation for all of us,” Iraola says. “You can’t [work], you can’t put your kids in school.” Between them, Shaun Cooper, Tommy Elphick and De la Torre had to assimilate Pérez’s duties, Iraola impressed and grateful at the staff he inherited. His tourist visa expiring, Pérez returned to Spain. Calls from Bournemouth continued, some consultation and a lot of conversation, not always about football. Then when Rayo sacked Francisco Rodríguez in early 2024, the club offered him the manager’s job again. Iraola encouraged Pérez to go for it. “In the summer, I didn’t feel ethically comfortable and I wanted to continue with Andoni,” Pérez said. “The circumstances changed.” Camello admits: “I think the transition from assistant to head coach here was hard. He had been so close to us. Iñigo loved us too much: he felt so responsible for us that the inevitable frictions as No 1 were taken to heart. But he opened up to us, reached us. The relationship is still so good: he messaged me yesterday with some bands to listen to. And I doubt I’ll ever come across someone so capable in football terms. It’s amazing how many solutions he gives you on the pitch. Seeing him and Andoni in the Champions League doesn’t surprise. They have no limits; we’re just grateful that two monsters coached us.” Their paths had separated, but the courses set were similar, the styles too. “My football belongs to Andoni,” Pérez said. Chaos still reigned many miles away and only a phone call apart. Iraola took Bournemouth to Europe for the first time; Pérez achieved Rayo’s first European qualification, and led them to the only final in their history. This summer greater challenges awaited, so here they are at Anfield, where there is relief that a friend’s career was not ruined but rather launched. “I am so, so happy for Iñigo,” one staffer says, “because you want good things to happen to good people and he’s very, very good people.” They will watch in Bilbao, where it all began. “It’s special: I’m so proud of them,” says López. Gurpegui says: “Iñigo suffered in England but that situation opened another opportunity and now look: Andoni at Anfield. Bloody hell, I’m so pleased, because they’re two incredible people: humble, always there when you need them. Football needs more people like that.” Fernández adds: “And knowing them, it will be fun too: bold, brave football, a great game.” Iraola says: “These games aren’t good for your relationship. We usually talk a lot but when you’re facing each other you talk less. It’s a special game because he’s my friend. He knows me very well. We’ve been through a lot together.”

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If this truly was the turning point for Liverpool’s spluttering forwards then they will owe a big debt of gratitude to Yehor Yarmolyuk. Brentford were 1-0 up when their midfielder saw red for a head-butt on Jérémy Jacquet just before half-time and, while Andoni Iraola will hope that surviving one of the toughest tests the Premier League has to offer is a sign his methods are starting to take hold, the Spaniard will know it was very different contest once his side had a numerical advantage to exploit. Brentford, whose unbeaten start to the season is over, raged at the officiating. They finished with nine men after losing Vitaly Janelt late on. John Brooks walked off to boos at full-time, although in truth Keith Andrews’ side only had themselves to blame. They pressed the self-destruct button when they had Liverpool on the ropes. Yarmolyuk was foolish and Liverpool punished him. Iraola was delighted with how an attack worth close to £400m rose to the occasion in the second half. Florian Wirtz, who has struggled since his £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen last year, collected his second assist of the season when he made Victor Muñoz’s equaliser. Muñoz finished well and his strike was followed by a first assist in Liverpool colours for Bradley Barcola, whose header teed up Alexander Isak to complete the turnaround in the 70th minute and lift Iraola’s side into fifth place. There was not much between the sides before Yarmolyuk’s rush of blood to the head. Liverpool had Isak back after injury ruled him out of last week’s defeat toby Manchester City and they shaded the early openings. Isak nodded over from a good position and when Vitaly Janelt made an error Barcola missed a chance to build on his midweek hat-trick against LASK. Brentford responded with a series of fast breaks. Liverpool had to be strong. They looked readier for the threat posed by Brentford than when they folded in this fixture under Arne Slot 12 months ago. Jacquet, quietly impressive in central defence, made a crucial tackle to deny Igor Thiago. The initial problem for Iraola was more that the expensive parts at his disposal in attack were not gelling. At least Barcola was willing to look for the ball and test Michael Kayode on the left. Yet Wirtz was not on Isak’s wavelength during the first half. Muñoz was struggling to make an impact against Keane Lewis-Potter and Liverpool’s worries grew when they lost Dominik Szoboszlai to injury. With Ryan Gravenberch suspended Iraola was light on midfield options. Trey Nyoni replaced Szoboszali and the 19-year-old’s introduction was followed by a whirlwind spell, sparked by Liverpool having a penalty overturned when Brooks checked the pitchside monitor and realised that Dango Outtara had touched the ball first when he slid in to stop Alexis Mac Allister from running on to Isak’s cutback. Brentford were pumped up after the video assistant referee intervention and soon had Liverpool ruing a failure to clear their lines. The ball came back at the visitor too easily. Mac Allister backed off Thiago, who crossed for Lewis-Potter to run in from left-back and direct a fine header into the top corner. Brentford will wonder what might have been if they had kept 11 on the pitch. Instead they imploded while trying to hold out for six added minutes. There was a tussle in the area before a Liverpool corner on the left and when Jacquet went down holding his face the replays showed that Yarmolyuk had taken the physicality too far. The Brentford midfielder could not complain about his dismissal. Liverpool, though, took a while to adjust in the second half. They encountered further complications when injury forced Jeremie Frimpong off seven minutes after he replaced Ronald Araújo at right-back. Brentford, meanwhile, were holding firm. Keith Andrews made adjustments of his own. Kevin Schade was one of two half-time changes. Mamadou Sangaré, the other player to come on, drew an important save from Alisson Becker. Liverpool grasped for inspiration. Mac Allister let fly from distance but Caoimhín Kelleher saved. Rio Ngumoha, on for Frimpong, delivered a teasing cross for Virgil van Dijk to volley wide. Brentford began to wobble and they were caught after committing too many players forward in the 62nd minute. Wirtz dropped back, swivelled and played a clever pass inside Lewis-Potter. Muñoz was away and this time the cheapest of Liverpool’s front four provided incision, cutting past Lewis-Potter before using his left foot to thread a low shot beyond Kelleher. The change in mood was dramatic. Barcola sliced a volley just wide but the second goal arrived with 20 minutes left. Wirtz combined with Mac Allister, Barcola headed the Argentina midfielder’s cross down and Isak came alive, fastening on to the ball and driving an emphatic shot past Kelleher. Brentford remained defiant. They threatened an equaliser through Thiago after Jaidon Anthony broke through on the left. They wanted a penalty when Jacquet tangled with Thiago but it was not their day. Their unbeaten run was over when Janelt, already on a booking, picked up a second yellow for a foul on Ngumoha.

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Manchester City manager embraces response to external criticism while Chelsea captain could be out until new year James was not one of the five players to withdraw from England duty during the break, though he does now look set to miss the next international window when England will face Croatia at Wembley and an away game against Spain. Moises Caicedo made his first start of the season against Bournemouth and made an immediate impact in helping the team to control the game, something that the side had struggled with during Alonso’s first few matches. Jordan Henderson started alongside Caicedo and scored his first two Blues goals, while Romeo Lavia, another player to have suffered badly with fitness since joining Chelsea, has made an injury-free start to the season. “I think we’ll be able to manage well with the players we have, the ones who have been playing and who are available,” said Alonso. “Reece is still a very important player. He’s the captain, a great influence. He has a good mentality and we need him.” Press Association Frank Lampard is not prepared to relax after watching his Coventry side record back-to-back wins in the Premier League. The Sky Blues looked to be in for a long season after losing their opening four games without scoring a goal on their return to the top tier, but they have kickstarted their campaign with wins against Nottingham Forest and Newcastle and Lampard wants to keep the foot on the gas. “Keep driving it,” he said. “It’s very important to look at the good things out of the game, also the things we can improve. But when we talk about the good things, I’m not overly patting them on the back because we have to work hard to get better. “Every game brings different challenges, so I think the players understand me and my approach and the staff’s approach here. We never want to rest. I don’t. I’m always fearful of resting on something and thinking that you’ve made it. This league’s too difficult for that. “So one of my first jobs is to keep pushing from that front, and the players need to feel that.” Press Association Andoni Iraola, the Liverpool head coach, has every faith in Trey Nyoni as the 19-year-old looks set for his first Premier League start. The teenager put in a composed display in the 6-3 Champions League win over LASK in midweek, and with Ryan Gravenberch suspended and Dominik Szoboszlai still struggling with a hamstring injury, it is likely he will line up alongside Alexis Mac Allister at Brentford. Nyoni has made 26 appearances since his debut in February 2024, 10 of which have been as a substitute in the top flight, but after playing 85 minutes on his first Champions League start in the midweek win, Iraola has no doubts about the youngster’s quality. “Trey is a player that is very young with not a lot of minutes in the first team, but is very mature, he understands the situation very well, he understands the game very well and tactically he is very smart,” Iraola said. “But he has to continue doing the steps in the right direction, I am confident with him. “He has been involved in most of the last games but he has to keep this level of performance, of training, he has to play as a six, as an eight, he has to start and play a game like LASK, putting pressure on the other midfielders. It is very good for us that we can put in these young players with not a lot of experience and they can perform in a competition like the Champions League or the Premier League.” Liverpool are in a run of six games in 18 days and Iraola knows he will have to call on Nyoni regularly. “In this period, especially, where we are basically playing every three days, less than three days, you need more players,” he said. “That’s why we changed the team [in midweek] and we need to change again at the weekend and change again when we face Villarreal in another three days. “We will need everyone in one moment or another, everyone has to be ready because we will need him probably. But this is the challenge of playing, no? It’s competitions like the Champions League and it’s not going to just happen this week, it is going to be a constant thing this season so we have to adapt.” Press Association Nottingham Forest are sweating on the fitness of Morgan Gibbs-White before Sunday’s clash with Arsenal. The England international picked up a “minor” calf injury in last weekend’s defeat at Crystal Palace and will be assessed before the visit of the champions. “Morgan Gibbs-White is a doubt, he couldn’t train the entire week with us,” the manager, Oliver Glasner, said. “But it looks like he can join tomorrow’s session. He had an individual session today with our rehab coaches. Then we have to see how he reacts today and how he deals with tomorrow’s session, and then how we take the final decision.” Forest will also assess Nikola Milenkovic, who has returned to training after a bone bruise. “Milenkovic trained for the first time today,” Glasner said. “Let’s see now how he reacts. He could be in the matchday squad, but let’s see, because he’s now out for several weeks.” Press Association

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Two of our writers pick over the German’s contribution to Liverpool and what the £116m forward could yet produce Some criticism has been OTT and a fee rising to £116m heightens demands but, yes, compared with his performances in Germany and for Germany Wirtz has underwhelmed at Liverpool. The past week has encapsulated his Liverpool career so far. In the Champions League rout of Lask he was everywhere, exploiting gaps between and behind the Austrian club’s defence and knitting together a dominant display against limited opposition. In the previous game against Manchester City, however, when Andoni Iraola needed big players to step up in the absence of Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai, Wirtz was ineffective, wasteful and withdrawn when his team were chasing the game at 0-1. It also did not help his cause that Rayan Cherki, a cheaper alternative whom Liverpool considered and passed on, completed City’s victory with a sublime goal. AH The physicality and intensity of the Premier League appear to be Wirtz’s biggest issues. He can be swamped, knocked aside, leaving Liverpool’s central midfield exposed. Iraola this week rejected the notion that the playmaker is struggling with English football, although his answer almost veered in support of the argument. “It’s not about whether they are foreign teams or English teams,” the head coach said. “It’s about different kinds of games. Some games are more comfortable, with more time to think, sometimes less. It’s not about the competition.” But, as Brentford are likely to demonstrate on Saturday, there is less time to think and little opportunity to get comfortable in the Premier League. Wirtz produced three assists in 11 Champions League games last season, the same amount as he did in 33 Premier League matches. His passing accuracy this season – from an admittedly small sample – is 80% in the Premier League and 91.5% in the Champions League. AH That is a question that can be levelled at many of Liverpool’s signings since the 2025 title win. The shift towards acquiring expensive “finished products” has left many pining for the hunger and spirit of emerging talent that characterised the club’s re-emergence under Jürgen Klopp. Wirtz does not have an ego to match his price tag. He is a conscientious, dedicated professional who Iraola, like Arne Slot before him, has found to be a good listener willing to put team instructions first. He is also, it seems easy to forget, only 23. Wirtz may not be a demonstrative force but he shows personality on the ball, always looking to receive it and take responsibility. His talent is clear but has not been seen consistently enough in a Liverpool shirt. AH Wirtz was sold on Slot’s vision for him as the central, creative force of a new-look Liverpool attack that would turn the slender wins of the title-winning season into dominant, emphatic victories. It never happened, and Slot was sacked without finding a position that best suited Wirtz. Iraola immediately confirmed Wirtz would be his No 10 and got to work on him building a close rapport with Isak. There were some promising signs before Isak got injured again. Wirtz can justifiably argue that forces beyond his control have conspired against him at Liverpool and that, as his relationship with Bradley Barcola and Isak improves, so will his end product. He would also be helped by the addition of an out-and-out defensive midfielder who could offer Wirtz licence to roam and greater protection to the Liverpool defence. Monaco’s Lamine Camara, whose proposed move to Chelsea collapsed on deadline day, is of interest. AH Unbelievably so. In his final two seasons in the Bundesliga you could make the case that he was the best player in it. He racked up goals and assists in European competition too (he was excellent in the Champions League in 2024-25 before injury halted him in the knockouts) but you can’t just describe it in terms of numbers. He dominated the big matches and acted as the conductor of Leverkusen’s orchestra. Teams who tried to kick him out of games almost universally failed, making the idea he can’t hack the Premier League physically a flawed explanation for his difficulties. AB Partly it was, but on a technical and tactical level his success was also partly down to the freedom Xabi Alonso allowed him. As Alonso said in November 2023 (during Leverkusen’s unbeaten double-winning season) every player had responsibility to patrol an allotted zone “but Flo is different” – he was given licence to prod opposing defences as he saw fit. Alonso’s rotation of him made sure he remained fresh and impactful, his hat-trick in the 5-0 win over Werder Bremen that clinched the title in 2024 coming after he was brought on as a half-time substitute. AB I don’t think we can say that isn’t a factor – but this is something Wirtz himself predicted. Many in his entourage thought he would be better served by joining Bayern Munich instead of Liverpool and he acknowledged he was taking the tougher option. He knew it was a risk but was determined to challenge himself. Another point is how different the Bundesliga is tactically; it has a similarly high tempo but is far more chaotic, which is perfect for a player with his sang froid to exploit. AB He has been given greater freedom (and a little less responsibility off the ball), more akin to his Leverkusen role, but what has been important is having Klopp cheerlead for him. The manager has not missed an opportunity to say how great Wirtz is or how his good international form is “good for Liverpool”. Klopp also gave him the captaincy for the last game (and a half), showing Wirtz and the world that he believes not only in his talent and influence but in him as a leader. It feels like the more contact he has with Klopp, the better for him and his club. AB Wirtz can be a class act, a lovely footballer to watch, and it would be premature to write off a gifted talent who – as the previous answer about Isak and a defensive midfielder suggests – has not had the platform to fully express himself at Liverpool. But the question of whether the Premier League suits him and whether he suits this Liverpool team continues to gnaw away. Wirtz needed a strong start to the season after the difficulties of his debut campaign at Anfield and, with one assist and no goals in six Premier League appearances, that has not materialised. There was encouragement in his overall performance and in his understanding with Barcola against Lask, as there has been on several Champions League nights, but Iraola needs his playmaker to produce a repeat in games such as Brentford away. Wirtz will remain categorised as a luxury player if another difficult Premier League assignment passes him by. AH Maybe. The deck has been largely stacked against him since he arrived: there were too many changes to a champion team in the summer he arrived, plus he was expected to pull the strings in a side that still had Mohamed Salah. He has overcome big setbacks before, such as the 2022 anterior cruciate ligament injury that took a long while to get over, so he has the character to go with his class. Wirtz has the ability to succeed at Anfield but unless the conditions around him change I think it will be very hard to do so (I can imagine him being great for Bayern in a couple of years, post-Michael Olise). AB

Football News

Defender sustained ACL injury on debut for club Iraola: ‘It is taking more time than we wanted’ Giovanni Leoni’s Liverpool return has been delayed because of the severity of the knee injury sustained on his debut, Andoni Iraola has revealed. The central defender had been expected to resume team training during the recent international break but that schedule has been put back by about a month. Leoni, a £26m signing from Parma in 2025, sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury against Southampton 13 months ago. Iraola has disclosed the damage extended beyond the ACL and Liverpool must tread carefully with the 19-year-old’s rehabilitation as a consequence. “It is taking more time than we wanted,” the head coach said. “With Gio, the plan was to train with the team in this past international break. It is probably now going to be the next international break [which starts on 9 November], so we have lost one month in the process. “With Giovanni’s injury, I wasn’t here but talking to the medical department it wasn’t just an ACL. It was a bad injury, a lot of things around the knee were involved apart from the ACL. I think he has to be very confident in the rehab and the process has to be very careful with him. “We want to make sure once he comes to the team he stays there in a good place. It’s true we’ve had a little bit of not a setback but a delay if you want. The plan now is he starts in the next break. It’s not that far off, but a little bit later than we expected.” Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo remain doubts for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Brentford having missed Liverpool’s last two fixtures with injuries picked up on international duty.