It was a positive weekend for Liverpool as the Reds picked up a much needed win and saw some teams around them drop points, heading into the new week there have been some new talking points to look at and potential news on the future of a key first-team player.
LFC Win in London
Liverpool won just their fourth game since the start of October on Sunday after a convincing 2-0 win over West Ham at the London Stadium.
The Reds were in control almost the whole match with the Hammers having zero shots on target.
Alexander Isak scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool in the 60th minute with a tidy snapshot into the bottom corner of Areola’s net.
Cody Gakpo got the second of the day in added time to wrap the win up for the Reds. LFC coasted through the final 10 minutes of the match after a red card for Lucas Paqueta, which sucked the life out of the West Ham team and the crowd.
It was Isak who got on the scoresheet, but Florian Wirtz took the plaudits. The German maestro won Man of the Match and put in his best Premier League display of the season.
He completed 95% of his passes, was dictating the way LFC played and showed off his physicality, which has improved over the season with a helping hand from the 2.5kg of extra muscle mass he has put on since joining the club, according to The Times.
Isak had this to say after the win; "I'm aware that it has been a long time coming and I have been trying to get back to my best form. I'm still on the way but I am happy to get that goal… The best feeling today is that we win the game and that is the best way to get a good spirit in the group but of course I am a striker so scoring goals will always help me.”
Bayern’s Uli Hoeneß Launches Annoyed Attack on Liverpool
Over the weekend, the honorary Bayern president, did an interview with German publication Bild;
“They spent €500m and are having a disastrous season. In my opinion, that’s because they only have superstars. They only have chiefs and no workers. I always say: At Liverpool, they’ll soon have to play with five balls because the stars won’t give up any of them… Poor Florian Wirtz, he doesn’t even get a ball there because Salah and Szoboszlai and all the others want to play with their own.”
Wirtz was quite obviously Bayern’s number one target over the summer, and it was expected to be a forgone conclusion that the young attacker would join the Bavarian giants. Liverpool swooped in and it is clear that there is no love lost from a Bayern perspective.
Liverpool are having a tough time at the moment but for a European club’s president to come out and lambast a foreign team, their transfer business and current form is freakish.
Konate’s Contract Talks
LFC remain in conversation with Ibou’s entourage over the French defender extending his time at Anfield, with Sky Sports’ Vinny O’Connor stating; “Liverpool remain committed to re-signing Ibrahima Konate… Real Madrid have been among the teams interested in signing Konate on a free transfer – but there are reports today that the interest is subsiding.”
It has been one of the overhanging stories of the season so far, and another year of contract’s being a big talking point at Liverpool.
Konate has been one of the many players that have dropped below their usual level, and for Konate, this has been amplified due to the off-field situation he is in.
O’Connor also said that “Liverpool will only agree terms with Konate if they are in keeping with their wage structure and they are also exploring the market for potential replacements.”
This doesn’t mean that any move for Marc Guehi depends on Konate’s situation but could impact Liverpool’s January business in the search for further quality squad players.