Liverpool beat Marseille 3-0 to move into fourth in the Champions League group table in a welcome positive display of attacking football.
Arne Slot will welcome the win after a week of criticism on many points. The unwelcome noise of speculation surrounding his future will be tempered by a welcome three points on the road in Europe.
Hugo Ekitike is an incredible player
It was another game that saw Hugo Ekitike strut his stuff. Although he didn’t get a goal or an assist. It was not for lack of trying. His misses were also mostly near-misses.
Although Alexander Isak remains a major loss, Liverpool can trust Ekitike to lead the line with aplomb in the Swede’s absence.
Ekitike now has 12 goals and three assists. It won’t be long before he can close in on his record of 22 goals and 12 assists from last season.
The £78m Liverpool paid to Eintracht Frankfurt remains a very good deal.
Mohamed Salah not quite at his best after AFCON return
After returning from AFCON this week, Salah was named in the Liverpool starting lineup to face Marseille but he wasn’t at his best.
There were a couple of occasions where his finishing was very poor but overall, he was decent. Liverpool will hope he can return to last season’s record-setting form as they head into the business end of the season.
Salah scored 34 goals and assisted 23 last season but has five goals and four assists this season.
If he can find the form that saw him set records, Liverpool will be in a much better position than they are now.
Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez are coming to the party
While there were plenty of things to analyse and criticise despite the 3-0 scoreline, it’s clear that Frimpong and Kerkez are finding their feet at Liverpool.
Frimpong has struggled with injury but has looked much better in recent games. His energy and pace are hugely helpful in transition and it allows Salah to drift inside, closer to goal.
Kerkez, on the other hand, has been on a steady rise the last two months. He remains fiery and chaotic but he’s picking his moments better now.