FPL notes: Lock on Salah’s form, Gakpo threat + Bruno bonus

From Mohammed Salah (£14.4m) poor form continued on Sunday as Liverpool suffered a surprise 2-1 defeat to Manchester United.

This is what we saw at Anfield.

LOCK ON SALAH’S FORM

Mohamed Salah’s poor form worries Arne Slot.

After his most recent clean sheet, the Egyptian has now gone seven Premier League games without scoring a goal without a penalty.

On Sunday he conspicuously missed a big opportunity shortly before Cody Agat‘s (£7.5m) equalizer, highlighting his ongoing struggles with form and confidence.

He was then substituted in the 84th minute as Liverpool looked for a goal.

Salah’s replacement, Jeremy Frimpong (£5.8m), immediately put two wonderful crosses into the box, and Gakpo really should have buried one.

“After games like this it is very normal and common for people to be very focused on individual players. In the first five or six games it was about the signings we made, now it is about Mo Salah. We had more than enough chances to score. Mo missed a big one. Some others missed big chances. We are not used to that.”

“We needed a goal, but we also needed a player who could create something in that final phase. That’s what Jeremy did.” [Frimpong] did, he had a great play, crossed to Cody [Gakpo]. If we had been up 3-0, Cody would have scored. So every player has tried everything. But it didn’t work for us.” – Arne Slot about Mohamed Salah

GAKPO THREAT

Another player who has not yet started this season is Alexander Isaac (£10.6m), who himself squandered a big one-on-one chance at Anfield.

Instead, Gakpo was Liverpool’s main attacking threat.

The Dutchman scored the equalizer and hit the woodwork three(!) times. He also missed a free header from six yards out.

Above: Cody Gakpo’s shot map against Man Utd in Gameweek 8

Florian Wirtz (£8.1m) meanwhile was back in the bank.

When he was introduced, he was deployed in a two-man midfield with a fellow substitute Curtis Jones (£5.4m), which was never going to get the best out of him.

Hugo Ekitike (£8.7m) did impress from the bench though, firing in a few tries in quick succession and adding real positivity to Liverpool’s play.

SET-PIECE PROBLEMS/GRAVENBERCH INJURY

Liverpool doesn’t seem nearly as strong defensively as last season.

Virgil van Dijk (£6.1 million) and Milos Kerkez‘s (£5.8m) partnership on the left looks particularly shaky, with balls over the top causing problems all afternoon on Sunday.

Plus, they don’t handle set pieces very well Harry Maguire‘s (4.4m) late winner effective from a dead ball situation.

“Just like against Palace and a few other times this season, we have conceded a set piece and that is difficult to accept because it is very difficult to win a football match when you have a negative balance on set pieces.” – Arne Slot

In any case, Van Dijk earned defensive contribution (DefCon) points.

An ankle injury Ryan Gravenberch (£5.7m) is another concern for Slot ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Eintracht Frankfurt.

“I took Ryan off because he twisted his ankle. So yeah, he’s an injury problem. We’ll have to wait and see tomorrow.” – Arne Slot about Ryan Gravenberch

BRUNO BONUS

Bruno Fernandes‘ (£8.9m) late assist at Anfield helped secure the maximum bonus as he returned from successive blanks in style.

His creativity was largely down to: three chances created, one of which was a ‘big’, plus 32 pass attempts with an 81% completion rate accounted for a large part of his Bonus Points System (BPS) score.

Above: Players involved in Liverpool v Man Utd, sorted by Bonus Points System (BPS) score

In case you missed it, it looks like Bruno will also continue to take penalties for United.

“He has taken 70 penalties and missed nine, including two for me, so that really annoys me. But he is really confident. He trains with the penalties and tries to understand that people look at the way he scores the penalties. He will be ready.” – Ruben Amorim on Bruno Fernandes’ penalties

Elsewhere, Bryan Mbeumo (£9.0m) netted the opener with just two minutes on the clock, with the assist from full-back Amad Diallo (£6.3 million).

With most of United’s attacks coming down the flanks, both players thrived in transition.

Matheus Cunha (£7.9m) also impressed in the front trio, with Ruben Amorim explaining his decision to leave out Benjamin Sesko (£7.3 million) in his post-match interview.

“Sometimes the characteristics of the game change the way you approach the game. So for example, I think Cunha is in the middle, if we look at Ben [Sesko]I think it is easier for these types of central defenders to control our striker. So we try to do that, but when you win the coach is so smart, the coach is great, and when you lose there is something wrong with the manager. I understand that. That’s why I always go for what I think is best for the team.” – Ruben Amorim