“Has Slot’s nudes”, “Just shoot me” - Liverpool fans furious as Arne Slot refuses to drop 26-year-old Liverpool star from line-up to face Leeds

Liverpool fans are questioning manager Arne Slot after he opted to start Cody Gakpo in their Premier League clash against Leeds United. Many believe that the Dutchman is getting too many chances despite not doing well this season.

Slot has Alisson starting in goal, with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate as his center backs. Conor Bradley starts as the right-back, with Milos Kerkez on the left side.

Ryan Gravenberch is in the pivot once again, with Dominik Szoboslai and Curtis Jones partnering him. Florian Wirtz, who thought he had scored his first goal in the Premier League earlier this week before it was ruled as an own goal, starts on the right wing, with Mohamed Salah getting benched again.

Hugo Ekitike starts as the striker ahead of Premier League record signing Alexander Isak, and he has Cody Gakpo on his left for support. The Liverpool fans are happy with the starting XI, but have questioned the decision to start Gakpo and posted:

Arne Slot spoke about Leeds United in his pre-match press conference and said:

"Yesterday I looked at Leeds v Chelsea and I thought I saw a Liverpool game; Chelsea conceding a set-piece and for the third goal making a big, big error where they conceded a goal from. [It was] very difficult for them. Either Leeds went very aggressive to one-v-one or they went to a low block and it was really hard to create chances. It's not only difficult for us, that playing style, it's difficult for many teams – including us."

Liverpool start the match in 12th, but can jump to fifth in the table with a win.

Arne Slot on Liverpool star Florian Wirtz

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has admitted that Florian Wirtz will need to score goals to regain his confidence. He believes that the German is doing well, and is trying his best to get on the scoresheet. He said:

"If you can only have confidence if you score goals, that would be the wrong thing. I think you can see where his confidence is at if you look at the last two games – how many times he wants the ball and how many times his teammates play him the ball. That is something that tells me how much confidence he has at the moment."

Florian Wirtsz is yet to score or assist in the Premier League since moving from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for a then-record £116 million.

Edited by Sripad