Ngumoha offers Arne Slot and Liverpool best hope of punishing PSG | OneFootball

Arne Slot can’t do much right in the eyes of Liverpool supporters right now, but there is one easy win in reach for the Reds boss: play Rio Ngumoha against PSG.

The teenager offered Slot some blessed relief with a man-of-the-match performance as Liverpool ended a run of three successive defeats with a 2-0 win over Fulham.

Ngumoha, though, has given Slot a headache of a different sort ahead of the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday.

If the manager ignores a performance of the sort Liverpool’s senior players have failed to deliver in recent weeks, and the Reds fail to at least make PSG sweat, what little support remains for Slot will surely evaporate with what hopes remain for a wretched season.

Really, it ought to be a simple decision. Ngumoha is one of the few Reds to play recently without seemingly the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Achraf Hakimi would doubtless rather face Cody Gakpo or any other Liverpool attacker instead of the fearless-looking 17-year-old.

Of course, Hakimi and the European champions will pose a far sterner test that a Fulham side that, for the most part, were perfect guests in what seemed at times to be a testimonial for the Mo Salah and Andy Robertson, both playing at Anfield for the first time since their imminent departures were confirmed.

But Slot has got more to lose by refusing to give Ngumoha his first Champions League start in a tie so little is expected of Liverpool anyway.

If he overthinks it, Slot might see some logic in keeping the kid back, perhaps for later stages. But that ignores the need for the Reds to take the game to PSG, who could just as easily put the tie to bed if they so choose.

That PSG have allowed Liverpool a sniff was the only positive to take from the first leg, prompting some hope that perhaps one of those Anfield nights could inspire the hosts to a most unlikely turnaround.

But the Kop need reasons to believe if they are to create something like the noise necessary to ruffle PSG. Ngumoha is one of the few Reds straws to grab at.

Given the winger was one of three substitutions when Slot was allowed the privilege of rotating his side, we have to assume he was withdrawn with Tuesday in mind.

Mo Salah, though, stayed on. Surely Slot won’t keep the Egyptian sat on the sidelines as he did for the entirety of the defeat in Paris?

Salah scored, adding to Ngumoha’s opener with a showcase of the kind of ruthlessness sorely lacking from the striker this term.

But he hardly demanded to be picked for PSG during what was – his goal aside – a largely anonymous performance featuring no successful dribbles or crosses.

Fair enough. Salah and Liverpool could afford to cruise against a Fulham side who if, they were not already on the beach, they certainly have their bags packed.

A package holiday looked their most likely avenue to Europe before kick-off, which the Cottagers appeared to recognise if their lack of intensity in the first half was any indicator.

For Liverpool, their European exploits are the only way they might save the season. Really, they would have plumb new depths to fail to finish in the top five.

Slot might not be around next season to enjoy the benefits of achieving those barest of minimums. So if the manager is to make the most of what little opportunity PSG have given Liverpool this week, Ngumoha has to feature prominently in any plan to punish the Parisians.