Exclusive: John Barnes ‘very impressed’ by Liverpool duo | OneFootball

John Barnes heaps praise on Liverpool duo despite team’s recent struggles

It has been an incredibly frustrating season for Liverpool, currently sitting 6th in the Premier League table.

With just five wins in their last 18 league games, pressure is really starting to rise on Arne Slot.

However, it’s not all bad. After a record-breaking £450m spend on players in the summer, some of those names are starting to prove their worth. Most notably, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike.

Liverpool legend John Barnes, speaking exclusively to EPL Index, was full of praise for both players…

Barnes ‘really impressed’ by Wirtz & Ekitike

“Having watched Florian Wirtz all season, I don’t think he’s struggled at all,” began Barnes, “Every time he’s on the ball he looks dangerous. The problem he has is that when he played for Bayer Leverkusen, he was the main man.”

“That meant that the players around him worked to get him on the ball and give him the opportunities,” continued Barnes, “Whereas at Liverpool, when you have three other stars in the team – Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak and Mo Salah – his job has changed to provide for them.”

Photo: IMAGO

“Hugo Ekitike has really hit the ground running because of his output and goals. But I’ve been very impressed with Wirtz, especially when he’s on the ball,” said Barnes, “Of course, many would’ve expected more, naturally because of the price tag but the team are still finding their feet and there will be bumps along the way. I have no doubts that all of Liverpool’s forward signings will come good.”

Looking at the numbers

After a slow start in terms of output, Wirtz has really sharpened up his game in the final third. No Premier League player has registered more goal involvements across all competitions since December 20th than Wirtz, with seven.

Ekitike made the quickest start out of any of Liverpool’s signings and is already looking like a bargain despite his £69m arrival from Eintracht Frankfurt. The 23-year-old has scored 13 goals and assisted four already so far this season.

With Alexander Isak sidelined with a long-term issue, the minutes are there for Ekitike to put a really impressive goalscoring return in his debut season.