Wirtz Scrutiny Resurfaces After Anfield Humbling by City

Three Points Gone, Patience Running Thinner With Wirtz Losing 3-0 at home to Manchester City was always going to sting, and Liverpool had legitimate excuses on paper.

Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai were all missing, Ryan Gravenberch saw red in a pivotal moment, and the gulf against the champions-elect widened once the numbers dropped.

Our view, though, is that the excuses only cover so much ground. When a side loses three senior forwards at once, the players left on the pitch are supposed to be good enough to paper over the cracks.