Selection Dilemmas Threatening to Derail Liverpool’s Title Defence

Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to old rivals Manchester United has given Liverpool boss Arne Slot plenty of questions to answer as he looks to get the defending Premier League champions back on track after a shaky start to their 2025/26 season. Not since Brendan Rodgers was at the helm in 2014 has the Anfield club lost 4 matches in a row in all competitions, but that is what Arne Slot’s new-look side has managed to do with that loss to United.

An unprecedented level of spending by Liverpool was supposed to allow the Dutchman to build on the terrific success of his maiden season in English football, but instead it is creating more problems. Around £450 million was spent in their record summer spree, but moulding the revamped side into a cohesive winning machine has been a huge issue for Slot so far.

With big games against the likes of Aston Villa, Brentford, Real Madrid, and Manchester City all coming up, the spotlight is certainly on the former Feyenoord coach as he seeks to answer some of the big questions around his team over the coming weeks.

Full Back Issues

One of the big questions Slot is going to have to answer quickly is what are his best full-back options?

It was always going to be different after Trent Alexander-Arnold left the club, given the England international’s creative output and presence, but nailing down his replacement has been a conundrum for Slot.

Conor Bradley, who looked so impressive at times last season, has struggled for form and fitness so far, while new signing Jeremie Frimpong is someone that appears more comfortable playing as part of a back 5 unit or even further up the pitch. The most exciting choice has arguably been Dominik Szoboszlai, with the Hungary star filling in at the start of the season. Whether Slot feels putting him at right back is the best choice for the team, especially given Florian Wirtz’s struggles, remains to be seen, but he would certainly offer an interesting dynamic from that position.

On the opposite flank, new signing Milos Kerkez has without doubt disappointed since arriving from Bournemouth in the summer. Big things were expected of the flying Hungarian after a stellar couple of years in the Premier League, but he has really struggled to adapt to his new surroundings thus far. It would be foolish to write off the 21-year-old, but perhaps a spell on the sidelines with Andy Robertson taking over might just allow Kerkez the space to adjust to such a big club.

How to Get Wirtz Firing?

So much excitement accompanied Florian Wirtz’s arrival at Liverpool after his £116 million acquisition from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer. The transition from the Bundesliga to the Premier League has been difficult for the German, however, as he has only contributed 1 assist in his 11 appearances to date in a Liverpool shirt.

That is way down on his creative output from his final two seasons with Leverkusen, where he had 34 goals and 35 assists, stats that made Liverpool work so hard to bring him to Anfield.

So much was made of Wirtz being the missing link at the top of Liverpool’s midfield in Slot’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, but questions must be asked after he was dropped for Liverpool’s game against United. Given the fact that he has just moved into the League, certain accommodations can be made for the former Leverkusen man, but with Liverpool’s struggles increasing, it seems Liverpool fans will expect their new star No. 10 to step up over the coming weeks.

Isak vs Ekitike

It is hard not to question the wisdom in Liverpool signing both Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak this summer. One school of thought was Slot maybe using Ekitike from the left, given his dribbling and one-on-one capabilities, with Isak through the middle, but that does not appear to be on the coach’s agenda just yet.

The French international made a good start to his Liverpool career, hitting 3 in 3 as a centre forward, but there is no doubt that his rhythm has been affected by Isak’s arrival. He has failed to find the net since a goal against Southampton on September 23rd, with Isak taking over as the club’s striker in recent matches. That is not a surprise given the fee the club spent on Isak from Newcastle, but with him failing to score again against Manchester United, Slot has a genuine dilemma about which of his forwards to pick as the club tries to regain some form.

Conclusion

It was always going to be an interesting season for Liverpool after the record-breaking summer of spending the club experienced. Arne Slot will surely have expected it to take some time for his new players to adjust, but he won’t have expected the team’s form and results to have fallen off as much as they have done recently.

They have the class and quality to retrieve the situation, but the focus is now on how quickly Slot, and his team can make it happen.

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