Arne Slot has confirmed that Florian Wirtz will remain unavailable for Liverpool’s trip to Wolves in the Premier League in midweek.
The Reds won 5-2 at home to West Ham on Saturday afternoon, with Slot pleased with the performance and result after the game, not least their set-piece expertise.
“That’s very pleasing,” Slot said.
“First of all, because that’s the reason why we won [and] second of all, because when I was just standing around your colleagues people said, ‘Well played, well played,’ and I said, ‘In my opinion, we’ve played better this season.’
“We played OK to good – so, we were OK to good but it wasn’t the best game of the season. We’ve played better when we’ve lost [and] we’ve played better when we conceded set-pieces.”
Liverpool won without Wirtz, who has been out since suffering a back injury in the warm-up before last weekend’s trip to Nottingham Forest.
Taking to X, journalist Paul Joyce said that the German would again be out for Tuesday’s league clash with Wolves at Molineux, sharing Slot’s confirmation in his press conference:
“Arne Slot says Florian Wirtz will still be unavailable for Liverpool’s trip to Wolves on Tuesday with a back injury.”
Liverpool need Florian Wirtz back as soon as possible
Liverpool may be winning matches without Wirtz currently, but against both Forest and West Ham, they sorely lacked his creativity in the final third, with other attacking players again flattering to deceive.
The 22-year-old’s influence for the Reds had grown enormously before his injury, and if Slot’s side are to have any chance of doing something special in the Champions League this season, they need him back in the fold as soon as possible.
Hopefully, it is nothing too serious with his back, allowing Wirtz to potentially return to the squad for the FA Cup fifth round meeting with Wolves at Molineux on Friday night, but he must be managed with care.
It is so frustrating to see him sidelined, considering how much he was starting to purr, and barring future fitness woes, he has the talent to become a legend at Liverpool if he stays for long enough.