Liverpool became the first team to beat Sunderland at the Stadium of Light this season after picking up a deserved 1-0 win on Wednesday evening.
The late collapse against Manchester City aside, the Reds have been better recently, and they were rewarded for another improved display with what could prove to be a really important three points.
Nevertheless, there are still some real issues for Arne Slot to iron out. Having tightened things up defensively and on set-pieces, his next assignment should be to bring more life into a somewhat misfiring attack.
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Ibrahima Konate battles with Brian Brobbey during Liverpool's Premier League match against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light (Credit: Getty Images/Stu Forster).
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Stu Forster
Creating chances has not been a problem for the Reds. Florian Wirtz was excellent again at Sunderland and he contributed to Liverpool having 23 shots, racking up an xG of 2.53 and generating four big chances.
That they could only score once, and that being from a set-piece, should be a concern for Slot, and while he was quick to speak about his growing worries post-match, he at least has a solution on the way in the form of Alexander Isak.
Alexander Isak will score plenty for Liverpool
When Isak was fit and feeling his way into this Liverpool team, his biggest problem was a lack of service from his teammates.
Whatever the Swede did on the pitch, the Liverpool players simply seemed incapable of finding him. Chance creation was at an all-time low with one of the most lethal No. 9âs on the planet in the team.
Arne Slot watches on during Liverpool's Premier League match against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP via Getty Images
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Although there is no guarantee that Isak hits the ground running when he comes back from a broken leg in March, if Liverpool can keep creating the same number of chances, the 26-year-old is absolutely the right man to stick them in the net.
âWhat Iâm getting used to more and more now is that we miss a lot of chances, which we did tonight again,â Slot said in his post-match press conference.
âIf you create so many chances and also moments where we could have four versus three situations or three versus two situations then that should with the quality we have â and that will, by the way â lead to us scoring much more chances and much more goals.â
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Sunderland v Liverpool - Premier League
Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
With these same players on the pitch, that should be the case anyway. But with Isak thrown into the mix, it seems impossible that this growing issue will not soon be resolved.
Liverpool clearly need Isak as well as Hugo Ekitike
Throughout a portion of the season, there has been some debate among fans and pundits that Liverpool were wrong to sign both Isak and Hugo Ekitike.
Although Ekitike has obviously had the better debut season of the two players, he is starting to show exactly why Liverpool decided they needed to sign them both.
Ekitike was disappointing against Manchester City last weekend and he carried his poor form into Wednesdayâs game.
Another big missed headed chance was the low-point, but the Frenchman was also sloppy in his all-round play, showing that he perhaps cannot be relied upon to be Liverpoolâs main source of goals.
History tells us that Isak is more ready to shoulder that burden, and with the Reds now clicking as an attacking force, his return should bring an end to what is currently a genuine concern. March canât come soon enough.
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