WIRTZ INJURY UPDATE: WHY ARNE SLOT ISN'T PANICKING AFTER FLORIAN WIRTZ'S WARM-UP BACK SCARE
Is Wirtz's injury serious? Analyse Mac Allister's clutch winner, Curtis Jones' cameo, and Liverpool's fight for a top-four spot.
Arne Slot says Florian Wirtz’s injury isn’t anything serious, even though he had to pull out of Liverpool's starting lineup during the warm-up before their 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest. Curtis Jones stepped in for Wirtz, and Liverpool grabbed a dramatic win with a goal deep into stoppage time.
Wirtz was set to start at the City Ground, but something in his back flared up during the warm-up, and he couldn’t go. Slot didn’t want to risk him. After the match, Slot explained, “We don’t think it’s serious, but he felt his back too much to start. He wasn’t close to 100 per cent. I think now, after being in this league for a while, he gets that you can’t play here unless you’re fully fit. We hope he’ll be back next week, but you never really know.”
So, Jones slotted in, and Liverpool scraped out a win thanks to Alexis Mac Allister’s goal right at the end. That winner was even more impressive because Mac Allister had just had a goal ruled out five minutes earlier, but he kept going and found the net. Despite the late drama, Mac Allister wasn’t too pleased with the overall performance. Liverpool is still sitting sixth, behind Chelsea only on goal difference, and if Manchester United beats Everton on Monday, they’ll be three points ahead.
Mac Allister said, “Honestly, mixed feelings. Scoring and winning always feel good, so in that sense, it’s a good day. But we didn’t play well. There’s a lot we need to fix, but winning always makes things easier.”
About the disallowed goal, he added, “I felt like I’d get another chance, even before the throw-in. I told Hugo Ekitike, ‘This is our moment.’ I don’t remember if it was that play or the next, but I got another shot, and I’m glad it went in.”
He kept going: “We’ll look back at the game this week, but the first half was just bad. Positioning, intensity, pressing – it just wasn’t there. Maybe the only thing we did well was defending our box and blocking some shots. But overall, it wasn’t up to our standards. The second half was a bit better, not great, but we created some chances, and the main thing is we got the win.”
Slot didn’t hold back at halftime. He told the team straight up that it was Liverpool’s worst half under him so far. “That first half was the worst we’ve played,” Slot said. “But we defended our box really well, so that’s why it stayed 0-0. Forest were the better team; they pushed us back, but our defending inside the box kept us in it. We had to deal with a lot of set pieces, especially early on, so if we can take that mentality and use it all over the pitch and just keep the ball better and not lose it every time, these players can do more.”
Slot tried to fire the team up at halftime, telling them there’s no way they could be out of energy already, especially compared to Forest, who had played a tough away match on Thursday. He reminded them about the second half against Manchester City, when they managed to turn things around after a poor first half. It worked well enough; Liverpool didn’t play great, but they found a way to win.
FINANCIAL EXPERTS PREDICT £120M HIT IF LIVERPOOL MISS 2026-27 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPOT
Liverpool face a £120m disaster: Read about the Champions League race, Arne Slot’s anger, and the impact of the £400m summer spend.
Liverpool’s in a tight spot right now. After losing to Wolves at Molineux, they’re clinging to fifth place, usually good enough for a Champions League spot, but the cushion isn’t exactly comfortable. They’re just three points ahead of Chelsea, who still have a game in hand against Aston Villa. That race is heating up fast.
Virgil van Dijk summed it up pretty well: “Either we get it, and we deserve it, or we don’t get it, and we don’t deserve it. If you play for Liverpool, it’s always been like this. It’s down to us, together with our fans, to get the results we need to get into the Champions League.” He also mentioned that Arne Slot, the head coach, wasn’t exactly thrilled after the loss; “angry” was the word he used.
But it’s not just about pride or missing out on big European nights. There’s a lot of money on the line. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire pointed out that missing out on the Champions League could leave a big dent in Liverpool’s bank account, even if the club runs pretty sensibly these days.
UEFA’s numbers tell the story. Liverpool earned €98.1 million (£85.3 million/$114 million) just for reaching the last 16 of the 2024–25 Champions League. Compare that to the Europa League, where they only received €26.8 million (£23.3 million/$31.1 million) for reaching the quarterfinals last season. The gap is massive.
Even winning the lesser European trophies doesn’t come close. Tottenham got €41.4 million (£36 million/$48.1 million) for winning the Europa League, and Chelsea picked up €21.8 million (£20 million/$26.7 million) for the Conference League. It’s nowhere near what Champions League teams bring home.
Maguire also pointed out the other hits: fewer home match days, less broadcast cash, and sponsors that pay out less when the club misses the top tier. He reckons missing out could cost Liverpool around £120 million ($160 million). Still, he doesn’t think it’ll sink the club.
And it’s not like Liverpool have been shy about spending. Last summer alone, they shelled out more than £400 million ($534.5 million) on big names like Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak – the biggest single-window spend in football history, actually.
Even with all that, Liverpool just reported record revenues of £703 million ($939 million) for the year ending May 2025, turning a modest £8 million ($10.7 million) profit. And here’s the kicker: despite that wild summer, Liverpool ranks only eighth in net transfer spend over the past five years. They’ve been splashing the cash, sure, but they’ve kept things balanced in the long run.
WHAT’S MISSING? WHY 16 GOALS AND 6 ASSISTS AREN'T ENOUGH FOR HUGO EKITIKE
Liverpool's top scorer Hugo Ekitike reflects on a massive win at Anfield and explains why he’s still hungry for more goals.
Hugo Ekitike isn’t exactly thrilled with his goal tally for Liverpool this season, even though he’s still leading the pack as the club’s top scorer.
He got his 16th goal of the season on Saturday, kicking things off in Liverpool’s 5-2 win over West Ham at Anfield. Not bad for his debut year. Plus, the 23-year-old, who came over from Eintracht Frankfurt last summer for up to £79 million, set up two more goals for Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo. That puts him at 22 goal involvements so far.
Still, Ekitike thinks he’s got a lot more to give. He missed solid chances against Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, and Manchester City recently, and that’s still bugging him.
“To be honest, I could score more,” he said. “I’m not that happy! But it’s not just about goals; it’s assists too. On Saturday, I set up one or two. As long as I’m helping the team and being involved, that’s what really matters. I want to win, so in that way, I’m happy.
“Obviously, I can improve. I could’ve scored in those last games; I had some good chances. So I’ll keep working. I want to be the best I can for the team, because I know I can do more.
“It’s all about learning and getting better. I’ll try to step it up in the next games, score more, and get involved even more.”
His goal against West Ham came after Liverpool kept the pressure on from a corner. Four of their goals that day came straight from, or just after, set pieces.
“We had some problems at the start of the season,” Ekitike said about Liverpool’s set-piece struggles. “We’ve all talked about it and worked on it together in training. It’s great to see it paying off now. We deserved it; honestly, we’ve put a lot of work into this.”
Saturday was the first of seven huge games in just over three weeks. Liverpool were up 3-0 at halftime, but West Ham didn’t just roll over; they made Liverpool work for it in the second half, fighting to stay out of the relegation zone.
Talking to liverpoolfc.com, Ekitike said, “Scoring early in games like that helps, for the team and for the fans. You feel more confident. And going in at halftime 3-0 up, that’s always good.
“But they showed it’s not over till it’s over, they fought back, and we let a couple in. When that happens, you have to score more, and we did. We got five.
“We’ve got to keep going, because there’s a long way left in the season. But yeah, I’m really happy. That win mattered.”
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