Liverpool supporters are yet to see Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike on the pitch together after their summer arrivals.
There has been plenty of discussion over the signing of the two centre-forwards and whether Arne Slot can fit them into the same team.
After Isak played almost a full game against Crystal Palace on Sunday, it feels unlikely that Slot will pick the Swede to start at Galatasaray on Tuesday.
With Ekitike fresh from a weekend rest following his midweek sending off, the Frenchman will likely get the nod, with Isak perhaps emerging from the bench.
Ideally Liverpool fans would like to see the two strikers paired together at some point soon, to get a glimpse of how things could work moving forward.
There is a chance that it will be one or the other for Slot, though. And while Isak may have the upper hand in some respects, Premier League legend Wayne Rooney has outlined why he’d actually pick Ekitike instead.
Wayne Rooney backing Hugo Ekitike over Alexander Isak
Because of Isak failing to have any kind of pre-season with Newcastle this summer, it has so far looked as though Slot is planning to rotate these two players.
However, when the 26-year-old is fully up to speed, he will surely be expecting to start virtually every game.
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Having been signed for a big fee and had a great start to his Liverpool career, Ekitike may also feel the same way. And according to Rooney, the former Eintracht Frankfurt star should have the shirt for now.
“I think the sending off to Ekitike was bigger than people think,” he told The Wayne Rooney Show. “I think he’s a superstar, he can affect Liverpool in so many different ways. Obviously they’ve got Isak but I think that loss was massive.”
“Ekitike one million per cent is in competition with Isak,” Rooney later added. “You’ve got a real competition between two forwards who are slightly different. Who wants it more? Who’s going to score, who’s going to create? Right now I would put Ekitike in there.
“Isak is proven in the Premier League that he can do that. But he has to prove he can do it at Anfield. It’s different, completely different. Playing in front of that crowd, the history, the atmosphere, the pressure. Ekitike has taken it quite quickly. Everything I’ve seen at the moment Isak hasn’t been able to do that so quickly, I’m sure when he gets fit that will change.”
How Liverpool can play with both Isak and Ekitike
Although there is a feeling from the outside that Slot will be choosing one of these two players as his regular starter and the other as a substitute, we’re not sure it’s quite so straightforward.
Having spent huge money on Isak and Ekitike – as well as Florian Wirtz – we think the Liverpool head coach still wants to get all three players in the team together.
In our opinion, this can be achieved by lining up with a four-pronged attack of Wirtz starting from the left, Ekitike and Isak more centrally and Mohamed Salah on the right.
Wirtz can then drift infield, as Ekitike or Isak drift out, always leaving two players centrally and one on either wing.
Once Isak is fully up to speed, we’re certain that Slot will put whatever plan he has into action.
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