Liverpool fought from behind to secure a point against Sunderland on Wednesday evening.
A 2-0 win over West Ham United had the potential to be a major turning point for an under-pressure Arne Slot.
Liverpool had lost nine in 12 across all competitions before that victory, and there was talk about Slot being sacked.
Another decent showing against Sunderland could have alleviated some of that pressure.
However, Liverpool looked out of sorts for large periods and after hardly creating anything themselves, went 1-0 down after 67 minutes.
But the Reds’ blushes were spared to some extent by the brilliance of Florian Wirtz.
Who was your Man of the Match against Sunderland?
Liverpool fans praise Florian Wirtz after Sunderland
The German’s effort ended up going down as an own goal, but he still deserves a lot of credit for the individual brilliance required to get his shot off and make it 1-1 against Sunderland.
Fans have since flocked to social media to praise the former Bayer Leverkusen man.
One fan wrote: “Wirtz has absolutely deserved that goal, he’s been outstanding today!!”
A second echoed: “But about time Wirtz scored and deserved bar Szoboszlai he’s the only player to turn up tonight.”
“Florian Wirtz is world-class.” tweeted another Liverpool fan.
A fourth wrote: “FLO WIRTZ IS DIFFERENT CLASS! £100m looks a bargain already.”
“The WORLD CLASS Florian Wirtz,” stated yet another Reds supporter,” while a sixth added: “Florian Wirtz WORLD CLASS”
Florian Wirtz stats vs Sunderland
Wirtz began the tie in the middle but after Salah came on, he drifted into a wider role at times.
Sofascore handed the winger a 7.1 rating on the night, which was among the best Liverpool players on the pitch.
He notched a 0.36 xA, completed 52 of 59 passes on the night (88%) and made three key passes.
Florian Wirtz spared Liverpool’s blushes vs Sunderland, rate his performance out of 10!
Florian Wirtz stats for Liverpool vs Sunderland
- xA: 0.16
- Key passes: 3
- Accurate passes: 52/59 (88%)
- Passes in opposition half (acc.): 42/50 (84%)
- Ground duels (won): 5 (3)
- xG: 0.71
But after starting two games in a row, Slot has already hinted that Wirtz could be benched versus Leeds United this weekend.
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