By Matt Ladson, ThisIsAnfield.com
Arne Slot opted to leave the Italian, who has played just 33 minutes in the Premier League this season, at home in favour of bringing Trent Alexander-Arnold back into the matchday squad. It meant the two forwards chosen for the bench were the goal-shy Darwin Núñez and Diogo Jota.
Jota now has one goal in his last 14 appearances, while Núñez has one in his last 15. A winger, Luis Díaz, was chosen to lead the attack from kick off. Jota came on for the last half an hour and missed three big chances and put all four of his shots wide.
Slot has insisted that Chiesa is in competition with Mohamed Salah, always stating that the 27-year-old is the backup to the 32-goal Egyptian. But surely Chiesa could have been given an opportunity in a central role, given the chances Díaz, Jota and Núñez have been afforded and failed to take throughout the season.
It will, it seems, remain a mystery why Slot doesn’t fancy the former Juventus man, who is now widely expected to depart Anfield within 12 months of his £12 million arrival last summer. Supporters may liken his time similarly to that of Jari Litmanen, a talented player that Gerard Houllier didn’t seem to fancy. Sometimes that happens.
Liverpool’s attacking rebuild – four out, two stay?
It’s quite bizarre that Liverpool – a team that have scored 112 goals in all competitions – are on the verge of sealing their 20th title and yet of their five forward options only two – Salah and Cody Gakpo – look sure to be at the club next season.
Chiesa will surely depart, Núñez certainly will, Jota and Díaz are likely to be offloaded if the right price arrives for them. Both Díaz and Jota are 28 and with two years left on their current contracts, now would be the time to sell to maximise value and bring in younger replacements.
Liverpool looked at Anthony Gordon last summer, while links to forwards and wide players have been plentiful in recent weeks. Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Julián Alvarez, Liam Delap, Jonathan David, Benjamin Šeško and Matheus Cunha are among those linked either strongly or more tenuously.
Of those, Isak, with 21 goals and six assists for Newcastle in the Premier League this season, would no doubt be the ideal new No.9 for Liverpool – but the price would be extremely prohibitive, even if Newcastle were willing to sell, which they are hardly likely to be.
Isak ranks highly in all attacking percentiles, with his 0.64 expected goals on target (89 percentile) significantly higher than Jota’s 0.46 (52 percentile). Núñez’s is down at 0.34 (28 percentile).
Ekitike, three years younger than Isak, matches up similarly to the Newcastle man in several metrics, but the price tag being reported seems extremely high. Liverpool will be keen not to get stung as they did with Núñez. Ekitike is underperforming his expected goals, too.
One player who is outperforming their expected goals is Alvarez, and the former Man City man’s agent Fernando Hidalgo said this earlier this year: “I confirm that Liverpool were interested in Julián last summer.”
The 25-year-old has several qualities that Liverpool would like. He’s proven in the Premier League, he’s at a prime age (25) but with more room for development, has played in the Champions League under Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone, is somewhat versatile able to play centrally or from the left, and is a player whose style would suit Slot’s.
Alvarez has an impressive 26 goals and five assists in all competitions this season. He also ranks well for chance creation, dribbles, and in his defensive side of the game with a high tackle rate, recoveries and possession won in the final third.
The former River Plate youngster joined Atlético from City for a reported £82 million and signed a six-year deal, so any such move wouldn’t be simple, but with similar prices now claimed for Ekitike it would arguably be a smarter use of the money to opt for the Argentine.
A summer of change beckons at Anfield, especially in the Reds’ attack; it will be interesting to see how they perform once Slot has new players that he has had an input in signing.
(Images from IMAGO)
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