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Stupid and needless. Those were the two words that Arne Slot used to describe the red card that was shown to Hugo Ekitike in the Carabao Cup victory over Southampton on Tuesday.
And with Alexander Isak still working his way up to full fitness, it has created a real headache for Liverpool to solve ahead of a tricky-looking visit to Selhurst Park on Saturday to take on Crystal Palace.
Ekitike will be suspended for that game after he was cautioned for dissent and then taking his shirt off while celebrating the winning goal against Southampton. And having scored four goals in six games up to this point in his Liverpool career, it is a real blow.
Slot does have solutions, though. Federico Chiesa impressed to an extent on Tuesday, but it should be noted that he was playing against a Saints outfit currently sat in 19th spot in the Championship.
The evidence so far in his Liverpool career would point to a game away at Crystal Palace being a much bigger challenge for the Italian, though he can only prove that wrong by getting an opportunity.
Considering Isak only did 45 minutes against Southampton — and Liverpool couldn’t have predicted that Ekitike would get sent off (at all, let alone in such strange circumstances) — it is perhaps the case that the Swede isn’t ready to start at Selhurst Park.
Even if he does, he won’t play 90 minutes.
Florian Wirtz has played as a more advanced player before as well, and he could be the likeliest option. The German sat out the midweek visit of Southampton completely, and wasn't even named on the bench.
The 22-year-old could start ahead of Dominik Szoboszlai, with Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah on either side. That would also solve the problem of trying to fit him in as well as Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch.
"Could Wirtz play up top? He could do yes," Arne Slot said at the end of August before Isak was signed.
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"I would consider him for more games in that position but there were games last season — Man City and Aston Villa away — where we did play with an extra midfielder like Curtis Jones.
"But it depends not only on bringing in an extra midfielder. It depends on tactics, how they line up, all these kinds of things."
With Ekitike having made things more complicated, whatever the first plan was for Saturday, it will have to change now (initially, Liverpool's number 22 would have been central to it). In Wirtz, though, Slot might already have the ideal answer waiting.
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