1 week ago
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Liverpool may have bounced back to winning ways in spectacular style with a commanding 5-1 triumph over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League during midweek.
However, a genuine examination of whether Arne Slot's players have rediscovered their rhythm will arrive on Saturday when they encounter a challenging fixture at Brentford. Should the Reds have found themselves vulnerable to aerial bombardments in recent weeks, then they can anticipate a relentless assault of direct soccer from a Brentford team that is flourishing far more impressively under new boss Keith Andrews than most would have anticipated.
Yet if Liverpool can navigate the demanding encounter at the Gtech Community Stadium successfully, claiming all three points would narrow the deficit to Arsenal to just a single point before the Premier League leader's home encounter with Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Nevertheless, success in London would not entirely mask the reality that following a summer of substantial transformation and heartbreak, Liverpool manager Slot still faces challenges that require attention.
"I don't know if you can pinpoint one thing causing the biggest issue at Liverpool," said Arsenal legend Alan Smith to the ECHO via BestBettingSites.co.uk.
"It's probably a collection of things. Players are not settling into a new club, and the team is not clicking. Mo Salah is obviously not performing as he normally does. It's just a little bit clunky at the moment.
"Been a bit susceptible at the back, which certainly wasn't the case last season. Diogo Jota's situation is ongoing. That's definitely affected the club deeply. They sing his name, his song, on 20 minutes. So that still hangs over the club. It's a collection of things, really."
Smith, who found the net and featured in the Arsenal side that clinched the First Division crown on that memorable final evening of the 1988-89 campaign at Anfield, is correct.
However, another of the puzzles confronting Slot could be resolved for him on Saturday. The Reds manager needed fresh attacking options during the summer, and he secured two with Liverpool signing Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak.
Isak has struggled to find his rhythm following a troubled summer that ultimately saw him force through his exit from Newcastle. Ekitike, by comparison, is thriving, with his clinical strike in the demolition of his previous club Frankfurt lifting his goal tally for his new side to six in 12 outings.
Smith, who claimed the First Division Golden Boot when Arsenal secured the championship in 1989 and 1991, does consider it an "unusual" scenario for the Reds to possess two expensive center-forwards potentially vying for one position.
He said: "I do think it's an issue. It was unusual, really, because if I put myself in Ekitike's shoes, he signed for Liverpool for a big fee, and he's thinking he's going to be the number one.
"I'm sure in negotiations, they didn't mention Isak. I don't know, I might be wrong, but then all of a sudden a £100m-plus signing comes in and you're kind of second in the pecking order, so it would have put his nose out of joint.
"But now, for Arne Slot, he's thinking, hmm, how do I keep both of them happy? It was interesting on Wednesday night, they both played up front, didn't they, in a kind of 4-4-2. So will he change his shape now, Slot, going forward? That'll be interesting to see."
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