'Could be': Gary Lineker suggests Liverpool could have their very own Kylian Mbappe this season
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Arne Slot has a raft of attacking talent at Liverpool this season which could compare to the embarrassment of riches on offer at Real Madrid.
Madrid have always been the destination club for the world’s best forwards, and their current crop is especially eye-catching.
Heading that is Kylian Mbappe, the one-time Liverpool target who has been scoring at a phenomenal rate for the past eight or nine months.
Things did not start especially well for Mbappe at the Santiago Bernabeu, though, as he battled Vinicius Jnr for his favourite position on the left of the attack.
Ultimately, this appears to have been a fight which Vinicius has won.
But having accepted a role as a number nine, Mbappe looks better than ever this season.
With the Liverpool squad currently having a similar issue in terms of players fighting for the same position, Gary Lineker thinks there could be an Mbappe and Vinicius situation unfolding at Anfield.
Photo by Diego Souto/Getty Images
The issue at Liverpool this season is not necessarily who will play on the left, but who will start through the middle of the attack.
In a slightly reversed scenario of Mbappe and Vinicius, Slot must choose between Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike for his No.
9 spot.
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Both players would potentially rather play through the middle, but as they can also start wide on the left, Lineker believes one player may have to settle, just as Mbappe has.
“I wonder what Isak’s thinking, sitting on the bench there,” mused the former England striker.
“Because he’ll want to play that role.”
“Ekitike can probably play on the left, Isak we know can play on the left, and I think they might do that.
“But they might have that slight situation of Real Madrid when they had Vinicius Jnr and Mbappe both wanting to play on the left, but in the end Mbappe’s the one that’s converted to a nine.
I’m not saying they’re that level, but they could be.”
As they have not yet shared the pitch together, it is difficult to say with certainty that Isak and Ekitike can do an Mbappe and Vinicius and become regular starters together.
However, during their appearances so far, both Liverpool players have been relatively fluid in their movements, often pulling out to the left side.
In our opinion, this should make Slot’s decision relatively easy.
He will not want the two players occupying the same space at the same time, but if they play together they will likely rotate between the roles in-game.
With Cody Gakpo in disappointing form, it seems a straightforward decision for Slot to put Isak through the middle and stick Ekitike on the left.