FPL notes: Slot on Salah’s form, Gakpo threat + Bruno bonus

Mohamed Salah’s (£14.4m) poor run of form continued on Sunday, as Liverpool suffered a surprise 2-1 loss to Manchester United.

Here’s what we saw at Anfield.

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SLOT ON SALAH’S FORM

Mohamed Salah’s poor form is a real concern for Arne Slot.

Following his most recent blank, the Egyptian has now gone seven Premier League games without scoring a non-penalty goal.

On Sunday, he notably missed a big chance shortly before Cody Gakpo’s (£7.5m) equaliser, highlighting his ongoing struggles with form and confidence.

He was then substituted off in the 84th minute with Liverpool in search of a goal.

Salah’s replacement, Jeremie Frimpong (£5.8m), instantly put two superb crosses into the box, and Gakpo really should have buried one of them.

“After games like this, it’s quite normal and usual that people are very focused on individual players. In the first five or six games it was about the signings we did, now it’s about Mo Salah. We had more than enough chances to score. Mo missed a big one. Some others missed big chances. We are not used to this.

“We needed a goal, but we needed a player who could create something in that end phase. That’s what Jeremie [Frimpong] did, he had a great action, crossed to Cody [Gakpo]. If we had been 3-0 up, Cody would have scored. So, every player has tried everything. But it didn’t work out for us.” – Arne Slot on Mohamed Salah

GAKPO THREAT

Another player who has not yet got going this season is Alexander Isak (£10.6m), who himself squandered a big one-on-one opportunity at Anfield.

Instead, Gakpo was Liverpool’s main offensive threat.

The Dutchman scored the equaliser and hit the woodwork three (!) times. He also missed a free header from six yards out.

Above: Cody Gakpo’s shotmap v Man Utd in Gameweek 8

Florian Wirtz (£8.1m), meanwhile, was once again on the bench.

When he was introduced, he was used in a two-man midfield with fellow substitute Curtis Jones (£5.4m), which was never going to get the best out of him.

Hugo Ekitike (£8.7m) did impress from the bench, however, firing off a couple of attempts in quick succession and adding real positivity to Liverpool’s play.

SET-PIECE ISSUES/GRAVENBERCH INJURY

Liverpool don’t look anywhere near as strong defensively as they did last season.

Virgil van Dijk (£6.1m) and Milos Kerkez’s (£5.8m) left-side partnership looks particularly shaky, with balls over the top creating problems all afternoon on Sunday.

Additionally, they aren’t coping very well with set-pieces, with Harry Maguire’s (4.4m) late winner effectively from a dead-ball situation.

“Like against Palace and a few other moments this season, we’ve conceded on a set piece and that is hard to take because it is very difficult to win a game of football if you have a negative balance on set pieces.” – Arne Slot

Van Dijk did at least earn defensive contribution (DefCon) points.

However, an ankle injury to Ryan Gravenberch (£5.7m) is another concern for Slot ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Eintracht Frankfurt.

“I took Ryan off because he twisted his ankle. So yes, he is an injury concern. We have to wait and see tomorrow.” – Arne Slot on Ryan Gravenberch

BRUNO BONUS

Bruno Fernandes’ (£8.9m) late assist at Anfield helped secure the maximum bonus, as he bounced back from successive blanks in style.

His creativity was largely to thank: three chances created, one of them a ‘big’ one, plus 32 attempted passes with 81% pass completion accounted for much of his Bonus Points System (BPS) score.

Above: Players involved in Liverpool v Man Utd sorted by Bonus Points System (BPS) score

In case you missed it, it sounds like Bruno will remain on penalties for United, too.

“He has taken 70 penalties and missed nine, including two with me, so I’m really annoyed with that. But he’s really confident. He’s training with the penalties and trying to understand people are watching the way he scores the penalties. He will be ready.” – Ruben Amorim on Bruno Fernandes’ penalties

Elsewhere, Bryan Mbeumo (£9.0m) fired home the opener with just two minutes on the clock, with the assist provided by wing-back Amad Diallo (£6.3m).

With most of United’s attacks coming down the flanks, both players thrived in transition.

Matheus Cunha (£7.9m) also impressed in the front trio, with Ruben Amorim explaining his decision to leave out Benjamin Sesko (£7.3m) in his post-match interview.

“Sometimes the characteristics of the game change the way you are going to approach the game. So I think for example, Cunha, in the middle, if we put Ben [Sesko], I think it’s easier for this kind of centre-backs to control our striker. So, we try to do that, but when you win is so smart, the coach, is amazing, and then when you lose, it is something wrong with the manager. I understand that. That’s why I’m going always what I think is the best for the team.” – Ruben Amorim

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