Angus is an experienced football journalist at Football FanCast, specialising in Premier League reporting, opinion writing and in-depth football analysis. Since graduating from Southampton Solent University in 2022, he has developed extensive experience covering the English game, producing thousands of articles across a wide range of clubs and competitions.  

Before joining Football FanCast, Angus led VAVEL's Brighton & Hove Albion department, gaining valuable experience in club-specific reporting and editorial leadership. He subsequently joined Football FanCast through Snack Media's academy, now part of Valnet, and has progressed into the publication's Opinions and Features team.
 

As one of Football FanCast's longest-serving writers, Angus has covered numerous major developments across the Premier League, combining breaking news experience with detailed features and considered opinions. His work draws on years of reporting to provide context behind performances, transfer activity and the wider issues shaping English football.

Liverpool need to rebound after being defeated by Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

That should go without saying, of course, but Iraola does need to find a way to get more of a tune out of his attackers in the Premier League.

In fairness, Liverpool are doing just fine in the Champions League. Out on the continent, the Reds have won all three games so far, scoring plenty of goals.

They meet Fenerbahce in Turkey on Wednesday evening, and it's cruical that Andoni Iraola rekindles Liverpool's attacking verve ahead of the looming international break. To achieve that, perhaps he should drop Florian Wirtz.

Why Liverpool need to drop Florian Wirtz

Liverpool were unable to breach Arsenal's defences on Sunday. Wirtz was ineffective. The German playmaker, 23, has largely failed to impress since joining Liverpool from Arsenal for £116m in 2025, but he has improved recently.

Wirtz has actually created more chances than all but one player in the Premier League this season. Even so, he has failed to fashion opportunities in the right moments. He has struggled to impact Liverpool's attacking play to any great degree, and he has struggled against higher-quality opposition in the English top flight.

With this in mind, Iraola should drop Wirtz and show him that he cannot simply rely on half-chances and improved form out in the Champions League. He needs to gob that extra mile, and with Crystal Palace up next in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, Wirtz must prove, perhaps off the bench here, that he has the fight and determination to win his place in Iraola's starting line-up as a talisman.

Of course, if Wirtz doesn't start, Liverpool will need someone to step in. Luckily, Iraola has the perfect option to call upon on Wednesday evening.

Liverpool have to start their best player since Salah

Liverpool are missing Mohamed Salah this season. Not that the Egyptian King was in fine fettle last year, but nonetheless, Liverpool have lost some of their attacking essence, lacking the 34-year-old's creativity and focal quality from the right.

This squad has needed a leader to step up this year, and after a brief date with the medical room, Dominik Szoboszlai has returned to action to consolidate his position as that guy.

The robust Hungarian midfielder was "Liverpool's best player by far" last season, according to pundit Jamie Carragher, and he continues to play a focal part in Liverpool's system. Against Fenerbahce's strength and intensity on Wednesday, Szoboszlai might be the preferable pick to Wirtz.

The 26-year-old, after all, notched 25 direct goal involvements across 53 matches last year, thriving against the backdrop of Slot's demise. This season, he has scored three times across nine games in all competitions.

Szoboszlai, appointed vice-captain this summer, is a leader for the Anfield side. He brings a special kind of quality to the system, with his monstrous performances last year instilling a Salah-esque kind of presence, if not the same attacking style that saw the winger become one of the greatest players in the division's history.

With Alexis Mac Allister and, perhaps, Trey Nyoni either side of him in the middle of the park, Szoboszlai's powerful running and crisp passing could prove perfect for the struggling forwards ahead of him.

Iraola has yet to utilise Szoboszlai's versatility in the way in which Slot deployed him across any number of positions last season, but his streamlined role as a forward-thinking part of Iraola's engine room has so far paid dividends for the Reds.

How to fit both Wirtz and Szoboszlai into Liverpool's line-up has been something of a conundrum for the club, both this season and last. Whether Liverpool manage to find a solution in the coming weeks remains to be seen, but Szoboszlai deserves to pick up where he left off against Atletico Madrid last time out in the Champions League, creating five chances on that night.

He brings more balance to the team than his German peer. For sure, Liverpool need to bring him back into the fray.