Alexis Mac Allister jets in as Arne Slot makes decision over midfielders

The acquisition of Florian Wirtz promises a knock-on effect for Liverpool’s midfielders.

Of course the 22-year-old German hasn’t come in to play centre midfield - but he will take the space once occupied by Dominik Szoboszlai.

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The Hungarian, 24, was criticised at times last season for his lack of output in terms of goals and assists - with Arne Slot and Richard Hughes reckoning an upgrade could be made.

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Wirtz was available - albeit for a fee that could reach £116m - and now the Reds have their new solution in the No10 position. But it’s not a simple case of Szoboszlai dropping out of the lineup.

Szoboszlai starts season in terrific form

A lot of the £60m man’s best work can go unnoticed - the tireless pressing in particular - and Liverpool’s early-season results demonstrate they need him in the lineup.

Arne Slot has perhaps been a little fortunate so far this term that he hasn’t had to “drop” Szoboszlai.

In the first game of the season, a replacement for the suspended Ryan Gravenberch was required and so Szoboszlai came into the team in a deeper midfield position.

And given the injuries suffered by Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley - a space opened up for him at right-back on matchday two and matchday three against Newcastle and Arsenal respectively.

If Szoboszlai hasn’t been Liverpool’s best player of the season so far then he can’t be far off. The consistency of his performances has been sky high - and his intelligence and versatility a virtue for Slot.

His international manager, Marco Rossi, meanwhile believes he can become among the best No6s in the world in time.

Will it be Mac Allister or Szoboszlai?

And if Bradley is back fit for the weekend - removing Szoboszlai from the right-back equation - then Slot will finally have a selection dilemma between the Hungary captain and Alexis Mac Allister.

Right now it looks like there’s only going to be one winner of this battle long term.

Where Szoboszlai has started the season in top form, Macca is labouring. He hasn’t finished either of the two Premier League games he’s started - and was absent altogether for the Newcastle trip.

The 26-year-old was labouring under the weight of an injury towards the end of the title-winning campaign - sitting out the final two matches.

That had an effect on his preseason - joining the team late and enjoying a shorter programme than most of his colleagues.

Mac Allister struggles after international games

And it is apparent that Macca still hasn’t hit top gear. He had a miserable international window; a missed connection ensured he joined Lionel Scaloni’s World Cup winners late and the Argentina manager sat him out of last week’s win over Venezuela.

He was back in the lineup for a game against Ecuador on Tuesday night - a game lost by the Albiceleste. Arne Slot might well have been watching with his hands covering his eyes - considering Macca did all 90 minutes in an energy-sapping outing.

It doesn’t leave him a lot of time to recover before the Sunday clash with Burnley. Ideally for Liverpool, Mac Allister would have played the home game last week and sat out the Ecuador one. But they were not in control of his schedule.

Last season Arne Slot used the games following the autumn international breaks to rotate Mac Allister out of the lineup. Following a truncated preseason and amid a stuttering start it would be no surprise to see him follow the same template starting this weekend.

The big issue for Mac Allister will be if Slot decides that’s how he’d like his midfield to look going forward.

Gravenberch is undroppable, Wirtz is undroppable and Szoboszlai is heading that direction too. What it means for Mac Allister’s status in the team is yet to be defined.

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