Isak keeps doing the thing that decides games
Brentford 1–2 Liverpool. Come from behind, away, nine men against you by the end, and three points that lift the Reds to fifth on 12 points from seven games (1)(4). It was Isak again with the winner, and the table reads better than the mood does: one win, one loss, one draw in the league since the international break, and a 0–3 home defeat by Manchester City in the middle of it.
The real story of the week is what that win cost.
Two players gone, and the depth question is now unavoidable
Szoboszlai and Frimpong are both out "for some time" after Saturday, hamstring for the first of them (7)(21)(22). That is the one midfielder who has been asked to do everything and the right-back who makes the flank function. Iraola called it "a very delicate situation," which is manager language for a coach who knows the next six weeks are a survival test (7).
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I do not buy the idea that a January midfielder is optional. Liverpool are already being priced at £100m-plus for Alex Scott, and the reporting suggests the club is not planning an immediate move (6)(19). With Szoboszlai gone, James McConnell and Wataru Endo are the answer by default, not by design (14). That is a thin answer for a season with a European league phase in it.
Wirtz is the good news nobody should waste
Nine chances created against Brentford, level with Sadio Mane's Premier League record for the club (3)(17). He did it in the second half, when the game was still a game. This is the first week where Wirtz looked like the player the fee was for, and the timing is not a coincidence now that the midfield around him has thinned out (8). He will have to be that player every week for a while. He is also reportedly set on staying despite Chelsea interest, which matters more than it usually would (18)(26).
What to watch
Villarreal at Anfield on Tuesday, 20 October, 21:00 CEST, in the Champions League league phase (11). No Frimpong means the right side gets rebuilt in a European night, and no Szoboszlai means Wirtz carries the creative load against a side that will sit deep. Then Brighton at home on Sunday, 25 October, where dropped points at Anfield would hurt more than the City result did. Fifth place is fine. Fifth place with two starters in the treatment room is a different club.
