Liverpool summer signing risks axe as ‘never 100%’ Arne Slot reveals doubt after fortunate Burnley win
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has revealed his fear with one of his summer signings, who could soon find himself on the bench…
Arsenal and Manchester City will be sick to death of watching Liverpool winning despite not playing to their best after Slot’s side made it four wins from four on Sunday at Turf Moor.
Opponents Burnley displayed every ounce of the defensive resoluteness that got them back in the Premier League for 99% of the game against Liverpool, who would have had to settle for a draw had it not been for Hannibal Mejbri gifting the visitors a penalty in stoppage time for a careless handball.
Mohamed Salah duly obliged with the spot-kick, firing the ball home into the top corner to ensure that Liverpool got away with one *again*.
Liverpool have a few glaring issues, but their champions’ mentality has reaped rewards at the start of this campaign as they sit three points clear of Arsenal and six points ahead of Man City at the top of the Premier League table.
READ: Liverpool to retain Premier League title by default as they get away with it again against Burnley
For Arsenal and Man City, this has to be a worry as Liverpool are yet to fully find their feet and can only get better, with early teething issues experienced as natural No.10 Florian Wirtz eases into the fold as a ‘rusty, misfiring Ford Pinto’.
Hugo Ekitike hit the ground running with four goal involvements in five games, though Slot will be given a further headache once record signing Alexander Isak is up to speed and ready to challenge his fellow striker.
There is also the not-so-small matter of Liverpool potentially being left exposed at centre-back if Virgil van Dijk and/or Ibrahima Konate get injured following their failure to land Marc Guehi on deadline day.
Wirtz’s slow start at Liverpool has been a hot topic at the start of this campaign, with the Mailbox pointing out that he ‘will be a flop until he’s not’.
This is true, and Wirtz taking the majority of the flak has enabled £40m summer arrival Milos Kerkez to fly under the radar.
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The former Bournemouth star was arguably the best left-back in the Premier League last season, but he has taken time to get accustomed to the bigger pond at Anfield.
Kerkez, like fellow summer signing Jeremie Frimpong, is happier going forward than backwards, with the left-back often guilty of overreaching with rash challenges as a regular recipient of bookings.
On Sunday, Kerkez’s early booking came for another reason as he dove when trying to win a penalty for Liverpool. This tempted Slot to make his latest brutal decision, taking off the defender at half-time and replacing him with Andy Robertson.
Slot explained his decision post-match, saying: “It was because he got a yellow card. I think the fans here thought a chance for them to win the game is if we ended up with a second yellow.
“With Milos, I can never be 100% he doesn’t make the next foul, then the fans are on top of the referee. I thought the only way we could lose it today was if we went down to 10 men.”
Former defender Jarell Quansah received similar treatment last season, with a hallmark of Slot’s successful reign at Anfield being his willingness to make tough decisions at the right time.
Now, Slot’s admission that he “can never 100%” trust Kerkez not to “make the next foul” doesn’t bode well for the left-back’s immediate future in the starting XI, with issues relating to his temperament potentially leading to a spell on the bench in the place of Robertson from the off.
