After being named in Liverpool’s starting XI for Sunday’s Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest, Florian Wirtz was forced into a late withdrawal after picking up an injury in the warmup.
This blow comes at just the wrong time for Wirtz. The costly summer recruit had been enjoying his best run of form in a red shirt, shaking off early criticism to repeatedly contribute at the sharp end of the pitch. Having infamously failed to score or provide a Premier League assist across his first 15 appearances in the competition, Wirtz has directly contributed to six goals in his last 10 top-flight outings.
Forest were set to become the latest side to face this invigorated version of the German international until a late injury prompted his swift removal. Curtis Jones, a player whose senior career has been spent shaving off the edges of his natural attacking instincts, was chosen to directly replace Wirtz in Arne Slot’s 4-2-3-1 system.
Within seconds of kickoff, he gave up possession after dallying on the ball.
Liverpool’s Confirmed XI vs. Nottingham Forest
Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Dominik Szoboszlai, Ibrahima Konaté, Virgil van Dijk, Milos Kerkez; Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister; Mohamed Salah, Curtis Jones, Cody Gakpo; Hugo Ekitiké.
Substitutes: Freddie Woodman (GK), Giorgi Mamardashvili (GK), Andy Robertson, Calvin Ramsay, Joe Gomez, Trey Nyoni, Federico Chiesa, Kieran Morrison, Rio Ngumoha.
Wirtz Gives Slot Another Selection Headache
Slot already came into Liverpool’s trip to the City Ground with a right back dilemma. The Liverpool boss had confirmed pre-game that he would remain without Jeremie Frimpong for at least another week, which in turn took away the most natural Wirtz replacement.
Dominik Szoboszlai was once again called upon in an unfavoured right back role on Sunday. The Hungary international could feasibly have swapped positions with Jones—who scored from that position against Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup last weekend—but it would still leave Slot with a midfielder in defence.
There was no time for a pre-match update on Wirtz’s health given the rapid nature of his discomfort, yet Liverpool have a merciful week free of fixtures to get the German healthy again before West Ham United travel to Anfield on Saturday, Feb. 28. The demands of the fixture list reappear soon after with two games against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the space of four days to start March before the first leg of Liverpool’s Champions League last-16 tie.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Florian Wirtz Isn’t Playing for Liverpool vs. Nottingham Forest.
