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Alan Shearer says Arne Slot can't drop Hugo Ekitike at the moment - despite Liverpool having another elite number nine option in Alexander Isak waiting for his first league start.
Both strikers arrived on Merseyside for big money this summer, and they are yet to take to the field at the same time. It remains to be seen what the plan is and how often they will be deployed together, but Shearer says Ekitike is the man with the jersey right now.
"It’s not a bad option, is it?" Shearer said on NBC Sports. "Having said that, at the minute, there’s no way I would, if I was Ekitike, there’s no way I’d be thinking I deserve to be left out this side with the form that I’m in, the goals that I’m scoring.
"He can’t leave him out. He has to play him. So, Isak will have to be patient. He’s not 100 per cent fit yet, which he’ll be working on. But they’ve got so many options, not only with those two, but in wide positions as well.
"If things are working, fine. If it’s not, then at least he’s got the players to chuck on and try and change it. Good problems to have, if you call them problems."
Federico Chiesa didn't even make the bench as Liverpool played Everton this weekend. Young winger Rio Ngumoha was preferred, though he didn't make it onto the field.
Ekitike impressed with his overall performance and took his goal calmly when he was played in by a perfect Ryan Gravenberch pass.
Shearer wasn't quite as enthusiastic about Milos Kerkez, however. The Liverpool left-back played well against Everton, but the Newcastle legend still wasn't impressed.
"At the minute, we’re not seeing the same player in Kerkez, as we saw with Bournemouth," he said. "He was free-flowing. He had the license to go and roam and get forward.
"Here, to me it seems as if he’s caught in two minds whether he’s going to go, whether he’s going to stay and help protect that with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate."
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Liverpool plays Southampton in the League Cup next, with Slot expected to make wholesale changes to his starting XI. Isak could get more minutes in that game as he continues to build up his match sharpness.
Liverpool.com says: Having two good number nines can only be a good thing for Arne Slot. Fitting Ekitike and Isak into the same starting XI might be tricky, but there are so many games. There will be more than enough game time for both.
As for Kerkez, the Hungary full-back is only 21 and he is still getting used to life at a much bigger club. There is no doubt that he has the talent to make his $54 million (£40 million) price tag look a bargain.
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