Arne Slot must unleash Liverpool wildcard after Alexander Isak decision and Hugo Ekitike blow

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Arne Slot should go bold with his Liverpool starting XI against Everton, and if Alexander Isak isn't able to start, that should mean the Dutchman going with Rio Ngumoha

Arne Slot and Alexander Isak during Liverpool vs Manchester United.(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)

It certainly didn't look like Alexander Isak was ready to play more than 45 minutes as Liverpool was knocked out of the Champions League by PSG earlier this week.

And ahead of a massive game with Everton in the Premier League, that has to play into Arne Slot's thinking when it comes to picking his starting XI at the Hill Dickinson Stadium for a huge game in the race for the European places.

With Hugo Ekitike out thanks to a serious Achilles issue, the options at number nine are dwindling. As Slot pointed out on Friday, those who questioned why Liverpool wanted both Isak and Ekitike last summer have surely now realized.

In the Merseyside derby, you would imagine that Mohamed Salah will be recalled. If Isak isn't fit enough to start — without the need to worry about the potential for extra time on this occasion — Cody Gakpo is the likeliest contender to go down the center.

And if that is to be the line-up, the case is only growing for 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha to get another chance to inject some pace and life into the Liverpool attack down the left.

Given his youth, Slot has been very careful with Ngumoha throughout the campaign. Liverpool does not want to get into a position where it overplays the teenage talent and sacrifices his fitness down the line.

Rio Ngumoha celebrates after scoring the first goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Fulham.(Image: Steven Halliwell/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

But with few other options available and Ngumoha having done so well against Fulham a week ago, the calls are understandably growing for him to get another go.

Many Liverpool fans would have liked to have seen him start against PSG. So soon after the Fulham game, though, that would have been a risk.

Now, with more than a week between fixtures, it feels more realistic for Ngumoha to get the nod. And Slot has already said that he wouldn't have any fears about his temperament — only about his body being able to cope.

Without question, Everton would be a huge match to throw a teenager into. There will be some big tackles and physical duels all over the pitch, but Ngumoha has the attribute that Liverpool needs: pace.

If Slot's side is to carry a counter-attacking threat and have someone who is able to drag it upfield, then Ngumoha seems like the best player to have in the team to provide the sort of thrust and energy that has so often been lacking.

It is possible, of course, that Slot chooses to go with Florian Wirtz on the left and an experienced and more robust midfield of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Perhaps he would rather go with the 'safer' option of players more used to derby environments, and use Ngumoha as an impact substitute later in the clash.

That would be a perfectly legitimate way of setting up. But either way, Ngumoha feels like a weapon that can be used to inject something into a Liverpool attack that needs a wildcard. There is a strong case for that being from the off.