Two points from two, and the table cannot lie
Liverpool have two points from two league games, sitting 11th with a goal difference of zero. A 2–2 draw at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday followed the 2–2 at Newcastle a week earlier. The manager put it plainly after Forest: it is not the result we wanted, and the first half was really poor (16). That is now the shape of the season so far, three halves of sloppy football and a scramble back.
There is no hiding from what Forest did at Anfield. They pressed the full-backs and the midfield, and Liverpool did not have an answer until it was nearly too late. Florian Wirtz was visibly disappointed after the result (22) (25). Neco Williams, the full-back Liverpool let go, was the best player on the pitch, and Steven Gerrard said outright that the club should never have sold him (24). When your former full-back is getting praise for dismantling you, the problem is structural, not bad luck.
The attack is being rebuilt mid-flight
The bigger story this week is not the points dropped, it is the squad being torn apart and reassembled while the season is already live. Cody Gakpo is heading to Manchester City for up to £85m (3) (12) (19). Virgil van Dijk could not have been clearer: he wants Gakpo to stay, calls him a friend and a quality player (1) (2). Jamie Carragher takes the opposite view, that selling Gakpo now funds the signing the team actually needs (12).
Get the next Liverpool FC brief by email
This article went out to subscribers as a brief. Get the next one straight to your inbox, free.
Free · No spam · Unsubscribe anytime
In comes the money. Bradley Barcola is set to arrive from PSG for a reported £123m, the second most expensive signing in club history (2) (4). Van Dijk welcomed him with a story about a goal he scored against Chelsea, and the message that Liverpool still pulls the world's best (4) (28). While that fee is the headline, the cheaper work matters too: Liverpool have reactivated talks with Brighton for Yankuba Minteh (5) (17), are pushing Ismaïla Sarr from Crystal Palace (4) (7), and Harvey Elliott is close to a loan to Valencia (27).
Goalkeeper is the quiet subplot. Nottingham Forest want Giorgi Mamardashvili (6), and Liverpool have already contacted Genk about Lucca Brughmans as a possible replacement (8) (13). Two games in, and the squad is still being bought and sold around the manager.
Watch Ipswich away
Next up is Friday's trip to Ipswich Town. Then the Champions League opener against Atlético Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday the 9th. The question is not who lines up, but which version of the team shows up for the first half. Gakpo's exit will be confirmed or not, Barcola may debut, and Liverpool cannot afford to fall behind again against a promoted side on the road.
