Jamie Carragher reveals his favoured Liverpool attack and highlights Alexander Isak ‘concern’

Jamie Carragher has revealed how he would set up Liverpool’s attack if he was in Arne Slot’s position following the club’s lavish summer of spending.

Liverpool capped off an extraordinary transfer window by completing a £125million deadline-day deal for Alexander Isak, taking their total for the summer to a record £446m.

The figures eclipse the £434.5m that Chelsea parted with two years ago, with the champions further bolstering a squad that stormed to the Premier League title by a ten-point margin last season.

The Merseyside giants have also laid down a marker on the pitch this term, picking up where they left off to win all three of their opening contests and secure top spot ahead of the international break.

Slot must now consider how best to fit his myriad options into one cohesive side, with the Dutchman boasting an embarrassment of riches throughout his squad.

But it is perhaps Liverpool’s incredible strength in depth up front that throws up the most questions, and all eyes will be on Slot’s teamsheet when the leaders return to action at Burnley in two weeks’ time.

‘I think Mohamed Salah starts on the right wing, I think Isak plays centre-forward now, I think Florian Wirtz will play in that No.10 position,’ Carragher told Sky Sports News when asked how he would ideally set up Liverpool’s attack.

‘The left wing is maybe up for grabs a little bit with [Cody] Gakpo, young Rio [Ngumoha], maybe [Hugo] Ekitike can play there as well and also fill in for Isak.

‘Maybe, at times, we’ll see a front two employed by the manager because Wirtz can play from the left as well.

‘So I think he’s got a lot more options on the left and I think we’ll see a lot more rotation in that position than the other front four positions.’

While Slot has a number of potential selection headaches, Carragher is confident several players vying for one or two positions can only be a good thing for the club going forward.

‘You need a big squad, we know that, and you look at what Liverpool have been bringing off the bench in the first two or three games,’ the ex-Liverpool and England defender added.

‘They’ve actually won games from the bench but they certainly haven’t had the quality off the bench that we saw from Arsenal at the weekend when they brought on [Martin] Odegaard and [Eberechi] Eze.

‘But I think bringing in Isak now, it gives them greater strength in depth.’

Isak’s switch from Newcastle to Liverpool was perhaps the defining transfer saga of the summer, with the striker controversially forcing his way out of St James’ Park to get his dream move.

The Swede was arguably the standout centre-forward in Premier League football last term, finishing the campaign with 23 goals and six assists to his name.

But Isak’s injury record across his three-year stint in the north east is something that Liverpool’s coaching staff should be wary of, according to Carragher.

Asked whether Isak’s history with injuries should be a ‘concern’ for Liverpool, Carragher replied: ‘Yeah, I think so.

‘It was his first season more than any at Newcastle where he missed quite a few games at Newcastle and, listen, it’s difficult for anybody to replicate what Liverpool had a few years ago when they had Salah, Firmino and Mane.

‘They played every game and they never got injured, but, hopefully, when you look at the injury situation at Liverpool last season, that improved a lot under Arne Slot from what we had seen before under Jurgen Klopp.

‘Hopefully Slot’s way of doing things and going about things on the training pitch will help Isak in that situation because when you pay that type of money then you want that player on the pitch nine times out of ten.’

Considering their recruitment drive across the summer, Carragher feels his former club have to be deemed the overwhelming favourites to win the Premier League and defend their title.

‘When the champions go and spend £400m in the transfer market, I think it’s hard not to make them favourites,’ he continued.

‘The worrying thing for the opposition is that Liverpool have nine points out of nine and I wouldn’t say that Liverpool have looked anywhere near their best or certainly the Liverpool we saw last season.

‘It will be interesting to see how long it takes to bed in the new players, the new system, the new way of doing things, and if Liverpool are doing that and still getting results then that’s a big worry for the rest.’

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