Arne Slot may need to put long-term Liverpool transfer plan on hold amid issues

Ian Doyle argues that the Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has an obvious selection decision to make in tonight's Champions League encounter at Eintracht Frankfurt

Arne Slot and the Liverpool coaching staff would have had it all mapped out. As the earlier arrival of the summer, Hugo Ekitike would begin his adaptation and lead the line for the opening weeks to ease the pressure on later signing Alexander Isak before the £125million Sweden international assumes the mantle and his new team-mate becomes an effective, versatile forward option.

Football, though, rarely goes to plan. And while Ekitike ensured the first box was emphatically ticked with his impressive start to the campaign, the subsequent lack of impact from Isak has handed Slot another quandary during a testing opening that continues to cough up many.

So as Ekitike returns to his former stomping ground of Eintracht Frankfurt in Liverpool’s latest Champions League assignment this evening, the evidence suggests the France international should be the man in possession up front for the Reds.

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Of course, there won’t be much surprise should Ekitike start at the Deutsche Bank Park having spent 18 months there before switching to Anfield in a potential £79m deal in July.

He scored 26 goals in 64 games for the Bundesliga side, and with five in 11 for Liverpool already he is their top scorer of a season that plumbed new depths with a dismal 2-1 home reverse to an underwhelming Manchester United on Sunday.

Ekitike was benched at the weekend with Isak starting. But the Swede’s struggle for self-belief was evident when he snatched at one chance and then shot straight at United goalkeeper Senne Lammens when played clean through on goal.

It’s precisely the kind of opportunity on which Isak thrives and the Reds spent big to be converted.

But that it was one of only 19 touches the 26-year-old was afforded during a disappointing 72-minute outing indicates the problem is far from being entirely of his making.

Liverpool have thus far been unable to unlock Isak, perhaps unsurprising having - the spells of a fitful Darwin Nunez apart - spent a generation primarily without a pure striker leading the attack.

It hasn’t helped that Florian Wirtz, the £116m attacking midfielder bought to provide the ammunition for Isak and company with previous chief playmaker Trent Alexander-Arnold having long gone, is experiencing adaptation issues of his own.

Indeed, when Wirtz was introduced from the bench on Sunday, the duo had just 10 minutes together on the pitch before Isak was hauled off.

In total, they’ve had just 148 minutes of playing time to work on their understanding. Small wonder wires are so regularly being crossed.

The huge outlay on Isak indicates Liverpool intend on building their next attacking iteration around the forward, not least with Mohamed Salah now very much entering the latter stages of his outstanding Anfield career, all of which has been spent as the main goal threat.

Come the end of this season, the intention will surely be for Isak to have assumed that responsibility, with Wirtz the main architect.

Confidence in that being realised shouldn’t be affected by teething troubles, particularly when the ease at which the Reds are conceding at the other end must be regarded as the Reds’ most pressing concern.

But after four successive defeats, succession planning may now temporarily have to wait as Slot aims to prevent Liverpool’s season spiralling out of control.

Ekitike is the form striker in the Reds squad and has a strong argument to start ahead of Isak tonight for more than any sentimental reasons or inside knowledge.

Curiously, while Isak is long established as a Premier League striker second only to Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, in the Champions League he remains largely unproven after only one goal in 407 minutes for Borussia Dortmund, Newcastle United and Liverpool combined.

The tough start to Anfield life for Isak is far from being the only or most important issue with which Slot has to contend.

But squad strength has been built for a reason - and Ekitike should now be given a chance to show he can the leading man at present.

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