LIVERPOOL STILL STRONGER TEAM DESPITE ONGOING UNFORTUNATE LOSING STREAK CHALLENGES
Eintracht Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller says Liverpool have been "the better team in every game" during their four-match losing streak, warning his side to expect a motivated, "world-class" Reds team in the Champions League.
As his club gets ready to play the Reds in the Champions League on Wednesday, Eintracht Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller stated that Liverpool has been "the better team in every game" during their four-game losing streak.
Despite adding roughly £450 million ($604 million) in new players to their roster during the offseason, reigning Premier League champions Liverpool are currently experiencing an unexpected decline.
After losing to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, and Chelsea, Arne Slot's team suffered a 2-1 loss to their bitter rivals, Manchester United, on Sunday. It had been over ten years since Liverpool had suffered four consecutive losses.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Toppmoeller stated that Sunday's game "might have been 4-2 for Liverpool", adding that the Reds "are not in top shape, simply in the sense of their results.
The 44-year-old stated, "You see that they seem to lack a bit of a spark at the moment when you watch the games, which of course we did."
However, they have been the superior team and have had more opportunities to score in each game.
Toppmoeller stated, "We are expecting a world-class team tomorrow," and that the English champions would be eager to get to Frankfurt.
"You have to understand the impact losing four straight games has on a squad."
Under previous manager Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool's most recent four-game losing streak was in November 2014.
Star forward Mo Salah's decline in form is one of the team's problems.
The Egyptian, however, "was certainly among the best three players in the world over the past decade -- and still is," according to Toppmoeller.
Florian Wirtz, a £100 million midfielder from Germany who is making his first trip back to his homeland since joining Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, is another Red who is not playing at his best.
Wirtz's efforts were "pretty decent, even if he has not had the figures he had in Leverkusen," according to Toppmoeller.
He is at a club with a lot of attention and people from all around the world watching.
"I have a strong belief in his abilities. We should be concerned about that, so I hope he does not display it tomorrow."
THE KONATé CROSSROADS: WHY ARNE SLOT IS DESPERATE TO KEEP LIVERPOOL’S DEFENSIVE PILLAR
Arne Slot confirms ongoing contract talks with Ibrahima Konaté! Read Virgil van Dijk's "world-class" verdict and transfer updates.
Liverpool is trying to lock down Ibrahima Konate on a new contract, and Arne Slot has made it pretty clear he wants the defender to stick around.
Right now, there’s a real risk they lose Konate for nothing next summer. He cost them £36 million, but his contract runs out soon, and if they don’t sort things out, he could just walk away.
Meanwhile, Liverpool haven’t been sitting on their hands. They brought in Giovanni Leoni last summer for £26 million, and they’ve already lined up Jeremy Jacquet for an initial £55 million. He’ll join up after the season ends. So, yeah, they’re planning for the future in that backline.
Still, Virgil van Dijk isn’t shy about what he thinks. After Konate’s standout performance in Wednesday’s 1-0 win at Sunderland, Van Dijk called him “world class” and said, “Obviously, I want him to stay.”
Slot says the club’s working on it: “We’re in talks with him, so you can see what we want. We want him here. It’s ongoing, so we’ll see where it ends up. We wouldn’t be negotiating if we didn’t want him.”
Liverpool went through all this last year too: Van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all heading into the last stretch of their deals. The club managed to keep Van Dijk and Salah. Now Slot’s basically saying it’s Konate’s turn to decide.
Konate has played 33 times this season. Last month, after his father passed away, he even cut short his compassionate leave to face Newcastle. That says a lot.
And with all the injuries Liverpool have had, Slot’s just glad Konate and Van Dijk are still healthy. “He’s been as important as Virgil,” Slot said. “There’s a bit of an age gap, and that matters sometimes. Ibou’s had a good run with lots of strong games, even if earlier in the season, one mistake cost us a goal, and people judged him for that. But his partnership with Virgil has been really solid since I arrived. Both have stayed fit, touch wood. We need them, not just for their quality but because, honestly, we don’t have many options behind them.”
INJURY BLOW: WATARU ENDO RULED OUT FOR "CONSIDERABLE PERIOD" AFTER SUNDERLAND HORROR INJURY
Wataru Endo is out for a "considerable period." Discover Arne Slot’s latest update on the Liverpool injury crisis and right-back woes.
Arne Slot said that Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo will be out for a while.
The 33-year-old midfielder seemed to get seriously hurt during the second half of their 1-0 win against Sunderland on Wednesday.
Endo, who was playing his first Premier League game of the season, was filling in at right-back. He got hurt when his foot was pinned under him while he tried to clear the ball. The Japanese international tried to keep playing, but he soon collapsed in pain and needed oxygen as he was taken off the field.
Liverpool is having a lot of injury problems at right-back, and Slot said that Endo is the latest player to get hurt in that position.
Before the FA Cup game against Brighton on Saturday, Slot said, We still need to check things out, but he'll be out for a considerable period.
Endo was playing right back because Dominik Szoboszlai was sent off in the loss to Manchester City on Sunday. Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong are also out with injuries. Giovani Leoni and Alexander Isak are also injured for an extended time.
But there was good news for Slot, as Joe Gomez played for the first time in three games, replacing Endo on the right side of the defence.
Slot's update comes after he said, after the Sunderland gam,e that he wasn't sure how bad Endo's injury was, but he called it serious.
"We don't know how serious it is yet because we need to check it out, but it doesn't look good," Slot added.
I'm not sure if it's his ankle. It's his foot, but we have to check if it's his ankle or his foot. I think he'll be out for a really long time. It's hard to say exactly how long right now.