Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz are finally starting to repay their huge transfer fees this season, with both players making the difference for Liverpool in recent matches.

Wirtz is beginning to look at home under Andoni Iraola, and has rediscovered his ability to create chances for his teammates, while Isak has underlined his forgotten status as one of the Premier League‘s most impressive strikers, hitting six goals so far this season.

Isak and Wirtz’s off-ball work could limit Liverpool

If Liverpool can find a way to beat Arsenal at Anfield this Sunday, they will put themselves firmly into the title race. It is early days, but a win would move them three points behind the champions and would create chatter that the Reds are on the march once again.

Isak and Wirtz should be key to any win over the Gunners, and it is another chance for them to step up and really silence the doubters that are still yet to be won over by them.

Murphy appears to be one of those who is yet to be fully convinced by the £100m+ duo, telling TalkSPORT that their work out of possession could be the thing which prevents Liverpool from challenging right at the top.

“You can’t win a title when you’re so easy to play against. Why are they easy to play against? I think because they’ve got, not only four attackers on the pitch, two of them in particular – Wirtz and Isak – aren’t great without the ball.”

Given that Wirtz often tops the tables for distance covered during Liverpool matches, it seems harsh to level this accusation at him. Perhaps the German could be smarter with where and when he presses, but he is certainly putting in the yards. He has covered over nine more kilometres than any of his teammates in the Premier League this season and when translated per 90 minutes, only Exequiel Palacios of Ipswich can better his tally of 12.2km in the division’s top 150 players for total distance covered.

Isak is a slightly different story, with only Virgil van Dijk and Jeremy Jacquet covering less than his 9.8km per 90 minutes this season. But that does not tell the whole story, and if he keeps scoring goals at the same rate, the Swede will more than make up for any lack of complementary work.

Alan Shearer thinks Isak is striking up a top partnership with Bradley Barcola, and with Wirtz’s quality and hard-running to aid them, teams should be worried about what Liverpool can do with the ball, rather than any perceived deficiencies without it.