Florian Wirtz sends message to two Sunderland players ahead of Liverpool game

Florian Wirtz will meet a couple of familiar faces as Liverpool takes on Sunderland, with the 22-year-old aiming to continue his recent form as he finds his feet in the Premier League

Florian Wirtz will be aiming to continue his recent form as Liverpool takes on Sunderland(Image: Getty Images)

Florian Wirtz will be aiming to get one over on a couple of his former teammates as Liverpool faces Sunderland later.

The Reds head to the Stadium of Light looking to become the first away side to win there this season. The Black Cats are the only side in the Premier League to still boast an unbeaten home record, with not even Arsenal or Manchester City able to break their streak.

Arne Slot’s side will have to find a way though, having been handed a perfect opportunity to make up some ground on Manchester United and Chelsea in the race for Champions League qualification after both sides dropped points on Tuesday.

Barring any last-minute knocks, Wirtz will almost certainly be starting for Liverpool, having played an important role the last time the two sides met in December. Although his strike would ultimately go down as an own goal, it was the German that inspired the Reds to come from 1-0 down and rescue a point at Anfield.

Wirtz will be hoping to go one better as he looks forward to renewing acquaintances with a couple of familiar faces.

“Yeah, I know two players of them very well, because I played with them in Leverkusen - [Granit] Xhaka and [Nordi] Mukiele - so I'm happy to see them again,” Wirtz told Liverpool’s official site.

Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka were teammates at Bayer Leverkusen(Image: Getty Images)

“But of course, it's not because I want to see them, I want to take the three points. That's the task for us. We just try everything to get the three points and everything else doesn't matter.”

Xhaka is expected to miss out for the hosts with an ankle injury, which will come as a boost for Liverpool, with the former Arsenal midfielder having made a big impact since moving to the north-east.

His former Leverkusen teammate is also starting to make his mark, with Wirtz looking more and more like he has found his feet in the Premier League.

The 22-year-old has been working to gain some weight in order to deal with the physical demands of his new surroundings after a difficult start to life at Anfield, and the results are beginning to show, with six goal involvements in his last nine league appearances.

“I think now I'm already in a better position than I was at the start because I think I got a bit stronger. I spent a lot of time in the gym!” Wirtz said.

“But it's also the duels on the pitch and also in training and the extra work after training is helping me. It helps me also for the games, especially the Premier League games. I just want to continue to get better and stronger and more powerful. That can only help to be even better.”