After being named in Liverpool’s starting XI for Sunday’s Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest, Florian Wirtz was forced into a late withdrawal after picking up an injury in the warmup.
This blow comes at just the wrong time for Wirtz. The costly summer recruit had been enjoying his best run of form in a red shirt, shaking off early criticism to repeatedly contribute at the sharp end of the pitch. Having infamously failed to score or provide a Premier League assist across his first 15 appearances in the competition, Wirtz has directly contributed to six goals in his last 10 top-flight outings.
Forest were set to become the latest side to face this invigorated version of the German international until a late injury prompted his swift removal. Curtis Jones, a player whose senior career has been spent shaving off the edges of his natural attacking instincts, was chosen to directly replace Wirtz in Arne Slot’s 4-2-3-1 system.
Within seconds of kickoff, he gave up possession after dallying on the ball.