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Liverpool manager Arne Slot claimed that Florian Wirtz “could be available for a few minutes” during the FA Cup tie against Wolves on Friday, while suggesting that the Germany international is key to the team’s overall “balance”.
Wirtz has been out of the squad since picking up an injury in the warm-up ahead of the win over Nottingham Forest on 22 February, and the 22-year-old has missed three games in that time, including the 2-1 loss to Wolves in the league earlier this week.
However, he could feature against Wolves in the FA Cup fifth-round tie this week, in what would be a welcome boost to Liverpool’s attacking options.
“He trained half and half with the team yesterday. He made the next step in rehab. Let's see where he is today. He could be available for a few minutes tomorrow in the best scenario,” explained Slot, before adding that “everyone else [is] fine”.
The absence of Wirtz has coincided with Liverpool struggling in attack at times, and while the Reds did beat West Ham 5-2 over that spell, there are still questions over the attacking output and chance creation, with Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah coming under criticism for not offering enough from the wings.
And while Slot highlighted that “attacking isn't just down to Cody [Gakpo] and Mo [Salah],” the Dutchman did seem to admit that Wirtz is a key cog in his side’s attack.
“One of the players who creates is Florian Wirtz. He got injured three games ago. Before that the team had a certain balance and we've had to adjust again. That's happened a lot this season,” explained the Liverpool boss.
“Not all the games have improved in terms of creating chances. But we're not the only team that finds it hard to create from open play. It's the qualify of the league that makes it more complicated.
“We are not in terms of chance creation last in the league. We're not doing that bad. We're also the team with most ball possession so you'd expect us to create more.
“Cody and Mo we expect and they expect from themselves to score more. But attacking isn't just down to Cody and Mo,” he added.
Liverpool will book a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a win at Molineux, in what is the first of an important string of games that includes a Champions League last-16 tie against Galatasaray and a Premier League match against Tottenham at Anfield on 15 March.