One Liverpool star came away from the win over Nottingham Forest with his stock even higher. And he didn't even play.
Liverpool beat Nottingham Forest away from home on Sunday in what's a massive win for the Reds. Though, it did not come with a good performance.
Alexis Mac Allister popped up to win the match right at the death - mere minutes after having one ruled out for handball. Make no mistake, though: this was not a win Liverpool deserved.
Even Arne Slot admitted that in his post-match interview, explaining that Liverpool were truly terrible in that first half.
"Today, I think we got more than we deserved," he said. "A draw would have been a fairer result of this game than for us to win it."
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A win is a win but Liverpool won't get the points they need in the race for the UEFA Champions League spots if they continue to play like this. The Reds lacked ideas going forward, looking incapable of causing damage to Forest and allowing the hosts to consistently push forwards.
With that in mind, one player came away from the game with increased stock. And he didn't even play.
Florian Wirtz is the one
Florian Wirtz was supposed to start for Liverpool at Forest but a back injury in the warm up ruled him out. The Reds pivoted to a slightly different system but the damage was done.
Liverpool struggle to develop their attack without Wirtz. Really struggle. There’s little movement between the lines, nor is anyone particularly good at playing in tight spaces around the box.
The result is what we saw at the City Ground. Forest saw that Liverpool were incapable of moving their attack forward and were happy to push players on.
This was particularly notable in the first-half. The hosts were able to press high and leave some space between their defensive lines, knowing full well that Liverpool would struggle to hurt them.
Wirtz, on his own, stops that from happening. His presence makes it far more difficult for teams to take risks against Liverpool and when he’s not there, the team loses control.
They created next to nothing against Forest, resorting to late crosses into the box out of hope. Now, that hope did lead to something this time but it’s just not a reliable way of scoring.
There can be no question that Wirtz is vital to Liverpool right now. They’re not getting Champions League football without him.