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Liverpool forked out big money to land the player last summer and it has taken him time to settle in
Liverpool secured a useful 1-0 win away at Sunderland on Wednesday night. The Reds had to dig deep against the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light to secure the three points. Defender Virgil van Dijk scored their winner in the second-half, whilst Mohamed Salah got their assist.
Arne Slot’s side are sat in 6th place in the Premier League table after 26 fixtures. They are eyeing a place in the Champions League along with the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea. The Merseyside outfit are back in action this weekend with a clash against Brighton and Hove Albion at Anfield as they look to build some momentum over the coming weeks.
Liverpool man Florian Wirtz hailed by Joe Cole after Sunderland win
Liverpool playmaker Florian Wirtz has been described as a ‘joy to watch’ by ex-Reds man Joe Cole. The attacking midfielder caught the eye against Sunderland. As per FotMob, he achieved a rating of 7.8 and had a passing accuracy of 89%. Cole was impressed with his performance in the North East and was full of praise for him on TNT Sports: "He's a joy to watch. Him and (Hugo) Ekitike are going to light up the Premier League for many a year."
Wirtz, 22, was snapped up by the Reds last year to bolster their attacking department. He has made 34 appearances in all competitions this season, 25 of which have come in the league. The Pulheim-born man has scored six goals.
The Germany international, who has 37 caps to his name, was a key player for Bayer Leverkusen before Liverpool came calling. He joined the Bundesliga club back in 2020 after a spell at FC Koln and broke into their first-team as a youngster. Wirtz went on to fire 57 goals in 196 outings altogether, 16 of which came last term.
Is Florian Wirtz starting to live up to his Liverpool price tag?
Liverpool forked out £116million to sign Wirtz last summer. It has taken him a while to adapt to English football and find his feet. However, he is starting to show signs now of getting fully up to speed with life in this country.
Slot was impressed with his display against Sunderland as well and has said, as per the official club website: “Not for the first time he was really good. But recently when he was really good he was also involved in goals and assists. I think today he was very close and maybe should have been on the scoreboard with the amount of quality he has.
“But it's good to see, not only him but also other players developing so well and playing another good game of football where we have such a big disappointment against City where we played so well [in the] second half. We deserved so much more than we got. Another time, another goal conceded in extra time and another penalty conceded. So then to bounce back as we did today is a big compliment and a lot of credit to the players.“
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