The pre-match optimism that followed the Liverpool team bus down to the East Midlands was dealt a significant blow just minutes before kick-off at The City Ground.
Liverpool’s afternoon at the City Ground took a turn for the disastrous before a ball was even kicked. Florian Wirtz, the summer signing who has finally begun to find his feet in the Premier League, was forced into a dramatic eleventh-hour withdrawal
In what can only be described as a nightmare scenario for Arne Slot, Florian Wirtz the crown jewel of the Reds’ summer recruitment was forced to withdraw from the starting XI after pulling up during the final warm-up drills on the Trentside turf.
It is a cruel twist of fate for the German international. After a tentative start to life in England, Wirtz had finally looked like a man who had “clocked” the unique, frenetic rhythm of the Premier League.
The silky turns and incisive vision that made him a superstar at Leverkusen were becoming a weekly fixture, but it seems the unrelenting physicality of the English game has claimed its latest victim before the whistle even blew.
While the severity of the injury remains to be seen, the immediate fallout is clear: a massive psychological boost for a Nottingham Forest side already smelling blood under their own “manager bounce.” Vitor Pereira.
In Wirtz’s absence, Curtis Jones steps into the fray. While the traveling Kop may be mourning the loss of the German’s flair, the statistics suggest a different kind of tactical advantage in a hostile away environment.
Jones is not someone to be taken lightly, though, as the Englishman has a higher passing accuracy rate than his German counterpart.
Wirtz has a higher risk profile as his passing accuracy is 83.38% this season, while Jones has managed a 90.93% rate. Following Liverpool’s 62% BTTS, which is higher than the Premier League average of 55%, Jones might prove to be the risk appetite that might lower this stat today.
Slot’s squad is currently held together by tape and hope. With Alexander Isak still weeks away from trade-marking his comeback after a broken leg injury, and the right-back position decimated by the long-term absences of Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong, and the unfortunate Giovanni Leoni, the Reds are running out of bodies. Add Wataru Endo’s recent ankle break into the mix, and you realise Slot isn’t just managing a football team he’s managing an infirmary.
The head coach is expected to provide an initial update on whether the German’s issue is a genuine muscle tear or merely a precautionary exit.
