Andoni Iraola has backed Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola to improve their performances for Liverpool as the club prepare for Wednesday’s Champions League match against Lask without their three leading goalscorers.
Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai have all failed to recover from injuries sustained during the international break and will miss the trip to Austria. Iraola could not give a date for their return, leaving Liverpool short of attacking options during a busy run of fixtures.
The absences have increased the pressure on Wirtz and Barcola to provide goals and assists. Both struggled in Sunday’s 3-0 defeat by Manchester City, Liverpool’s first loss under Iraola, but the head coach rejected suggestions that their early-season returns were a cause for concern.
Barcola, who joined from Paris Saint-Germain for £123m, has yet to score or register an assist in six appearances. Wirtz has managed one assist this season.
“I trust the players we have now to play in those positions,” Iraola said. “With Bradley and Flo, they have had good games and bad games this season like everyone else. We know their level and we know they will give us good performances.”
Iraola argued that Barcola’s contribution against City should not be judged solely by his statistics, pointing to a chance created for Lewis Koumas that went unfinished.
“The other day, if Koumas scores the goal that he connects with really well, then it is one assist for Bradley Barcola,” he said. “His performance would be exactly the same but we will all say: ‘Oh, he played really well with an assist.’ Sometimes we focus only on the numbers.”
The Liverpool manager added: “Bradley and Flo are players that I trust 100%.”
Isak, who withdrew from Sweden duty with a thigh injury, Gakpo, who suffered an ankle injury, and Szoboszlai, who returned from Hungary duty with a tight hamstring, have not trained with the group. Iraola said their recoveries were being assessed daily, with Liverpool facing four matches in 10 days.
“I don’t know if they will be ready for Brentford, or Villarreal or Brighton,” he said. “I don’t know when they will be ready.”
Liverpool are also expected to make changes against Lask after several players picked up knocks against City. Virgil van Dijk is in line to captain the side for the 200th time in all competitions.
Iraola was satisfied with his players’ work rate and attitude at the weekend, including those in attack, but criticised the team’s response after Ryan Gravenberch’s dismissal.
Liverpool conceded shortly after going down to 10 men, leaving them with a more difficult task as they tried to reorganise their shape.
“The goal we conceded straight away hurt us,” Iraola said. “If we had made the adjustments earlier and been more compact at 0-0, it becomes a lot easier. But once you concede it’s not enough to just be compact. You need to go a little bit more and then spaces open.”
