Steven Gerrard has revealed which member of Liverpool’s squad he would have “loved” to play alongside after the Reds snapped Sunderland’s unbeaten home record with a 1-0 midweek win at the Stadium of Light.
Arne Slot’s men had to work hard for their three points in a rainy Premier League road game, racking up 23 shots in total of which 14 were fired off in a goalless first half.
In the end it was Virgil van Dijk’s glancing header following a corner, clipping a Sunderland shirt on the line on its way into the net, that broke the deadlock just after the hour mark, and that proved to be the winner.
The delivery came from Mohamed Salah, who has endured an unusually quiet and disrupted campaign so far but has now equalled fellow Liverpool legend Gerrard’s club record of 92 assists in the Premier League.
However, it was not the Egyptian whose praises were being sung by the former Reds midfielder in the TNT studio at full-time.
Instead, Florian Wirtz was the man receiving the most post-match plaudits from Gerrard.
The German playmaker has found a strong vein of form in recent weeks following a lacklustre start to life at Liverpool earlier this season after a big-money move last summer.
He was his side’s brightest spark in the opening period at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday, too, getting into dangerous areas throughout and rattling the bottom of the post at one stage when the scores were level.
Wirtz was modest in his assessment of his own performance, telling reporters post-match: “I was okay, a few good moments, a few not so good moments, in the end I tried to have some chances to score or give some good passes.
“Every good game gives you confidence,” he said. “We won in the end, so it doesn’t matter how I performed!”
Gerrard, however, heaped plenty of praise on the 22-year-old, calling Wirtz “world class” and adding that he “has the world at his feet”.
The nine-time trophy-winner continued: “I would have loved to play with this kid, he’s always in space, so clever in terms of being in areas to receive the ball.
“His awareness, his give and goes, he’s streets ahead of the defensive players.
“His performance was immaculate.”
