A special forward is ready to join Liverpool's first-team. It's fair to say Arne Slot no longer has a no.9 problem. Okay, he may have that problem against Crystal Palace after Hugo Ekitike decided to ...
A special forward is ready to join Liverpool's first-team.
It's fair to say Arne Slot no longer has a no.9 problem. Okay, he may have that problem against Crystal Palace after Hugo Ekitike decided to accidentally suspend himself from that match.
🚨2025/26 LFC x adidas range🚨
LFC x adidas
LFC x adidas
LFC x adidas
Shop the goalkeeper range today
LFC x adidas Third Kit
Shop the third kit range today!
But beyond that game, and beyond any potential injuries, the Liverpool head-coach doesn't have to worry about this position on paper.
If Ekitike is not playing, he's got Alexander Isak, who was undoubtedly the best forward in the Premier League last season.
Ekitike and Isak in the same team is simply a luxury. To have Federico Chiesa on top of that is an even bigger luxury. The Italian gives Slot's team the kind of riches in options that only the very best teams have.
But Chiesa, Ekitike and Isak are not the only forwards at his disposal. There's another special talent who is ready to join the first-team.
🔴 Shop the LFC 2025/26 adidas away range
Coming up against Southampton was a good opportunity for Isak and Ekitike to get more minutes under their belt. They did exactly that, Isak scored his first in Liverpool colours and Ekitike came on to replace him at half-time to get the winner.
Chiesa produced another outstanding performance when called upon, setting up the goals for both Isak and Ekitike.
But the most intriguing performance of the night might have gone to Jayden Danns. It was only a 15-minute cameo replacing Rio Ngumoha but it was a cameo that once again confirms he is ready to be an option for the first-team.
Danns looked really sharp when he came on and he pretty much did not put a foot wrong. He won 100% of his ground duels (1/1), 100% of his aerial duels (2/2), 100% of his tackles (1/1), completed five out of six passes and made two recoveries.
Then there was that brilliant pirouette around the Southampton defenders towards the last few minutes of the game to keep possession for the Reds.
It was a phenomenal performance in the limited minutes he was given. Yet another brilliant performance in a Liverpool shirt, in which Danns has already scored three goals for the club's senior team.
In that time he has averaged a goal every 70 minutes he has spent on the pitch for the club's senior side.
He's taken every opportunity he has been given and now he deserves more. With Ekitike suspended against Palace, Danns should be back in some capacity in the first-team squad.
And he should be given more minutes in the Champions League, too.
Category: General Sports
