‘Has to start’ – Paul Merson says there’s one Liverpool player Slot simply can’t omit v Spurs | OneFootball

Paul Merson believes there’s one player who Arne Slot simply can’t omit from the Liverpool starting XI to face Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening.

The Reds will be without Mo Salah due to his involvement at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), but they can call upon the in-form Hugo Ekitike as their goalscorer-in-chief, with the Frenchman netting doubles in his last two Premier League games.

Such has been the 23-year-old’s form this season that Olivier Giroud has talked up his chances of being selected for the France squad for next summer’s World Cup, even with Didier Deschamps having an outrageous wealth of attacking talent from which to choose.

Merson insists Ekitike must start against Spurs

Ekitike’s two goals against Brighton last weekend are as many as Alexander Isak has managed in total across his first 15 games for Liverpool, and Merson believes that starting the ex-Eintracht Frankfurt marksman is a no-brainer.

In his weekly Premier League predictions column for Sportskeeda, the Sky Sports pundit wrote: ‘Hugo Ekitike has to start ahead of Alexander Isak in this game. When we look at Isak’s struggles, it just reminds us how important it is to have a proper pre-season.

‘Liverpool could be in the top four or top five if they win, so they should play Ekitike.’

(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Ekitike certain to start – but will it be instead of or next to Isak?

It’d be a shock if Merson doesn’t get his wish of seeing our number 22 in the starting line-up against Spurs, having netted four times across his last two Premier League matches, and with the Reds having the rarity of a full week to prepare for this fixture (and also for next Saturday’s game against Wolves).

The bigger question will likely be whether the Frenchman starts as the lone striker or as part of a double act alongside Isak, with Slot recently selecting the two of them together in the Champions League victory away to Inter Milan as part of a 4-4-2 with a midfield diamond.

The Liverpool head coach has insisted that the two centre-forwards ‘can play together’, although the Swede’s fitness issues have lessened the window of opportunity for him to be partnered with Ekitike.

The Reds go to north London short on first-team wingers, with Salah away at AFCON and Cody Gakpo still sidelined with injury, so it’s plausible that Slot might go with a two-man striking partnership like he did at the San Siro 11 days ago.

All will be revealed when the team news is announced 75 minutes before kick-off, but it seems almost guaranteed that the in-form Ekitike will be included in the starting XI.

You can watch Slot’s full post-Brighton press conference below, via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: