Arne Slot given major Florian Wirtz conundrum as fresh Liverpool centre-back dilemma emerges

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Liverpool Echo IconSportFootballLiverpool FCA look at how Liverpool could line up when they entertain Manchester United on the other side of the international breakWith a two-week break now before Manchester United are entertained at Anfield, Arne Slot has plenty of time to stew on the worst seven days of his Liverpool career to date.Defeats at Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and now Chelsea in the space of a week sees Slot on his worst sequence since he joined and the opportunity to arrest the slump won't arrive until October 19 when United visit on the back of a 2-0 win at home to Sunderland.That won't mean Ruben Amorim will travel down the M62 full of optimism given United's wider struggles in recent times but Liverpool will need to blow away the cobwebs when their most fierce of rivals pitch up in L4 later this month.READ MORE: Cody Gakpo makes honest Liverpool admission after Chelsea defeat - 'Not good enough'READ MORE: Virgil van Dijk explains Anthony Taylor conversation as Arne Slot crosses Liverpool lineThe selection dilemmas don't get much easier for Slot, who is still attempting to find his best team after a big-spending summer.Giorgi Mamardashvili will at least start in place of the hamstrung Alisson Becker but the issues at right and left-back are becoming major problems now.Conor Bradley started at Chelsea but was hooked at half time on a booking with Dominik Szoboszlai once more asked to fill in in the unfamiliar position while Jeremie Frimpong kicked his heels on the sidelines.On the left side, Andy Robertson was a general improvement on Milos Kerkez at Chelsea but the Scotland captain was culpable for the winning goal in the 95th minute by Estevao Willian and left the field in some discomfort, limping off with the aid of the physio. That has to be a worry and shines a light on the failure to bring in Marc Guehi on transfer deadline day.In midfield, Slot went back to basics against Chelsea, picking the tried-and-trusted trio of Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Szoboszlai but the latter was forced into the right-back slot for the second half after Florian Wirtz was introduced.Mac Allister is struggling at the moment and is feeling the effects of a truncated pre-season, so some minutes for Argentina may be no bad thing in the wider scheme of things.

Curtis Jones is also pushing for an inclusion after his cameo at Chelsea where he helped bring about a general improvement once he was brought on.Wirtz, in particular, feels like a growing problem that needs solving sooner rather than later. The Germany international is a gifted footballer and would have had a few assists on his record had some of his team-mates had their shooting boots on at the time, but more generally, the £116m man has found his early weeks on Merseyside as a steep learning curve.Slot simply has to find a way to get the best out of the attacking midfielder.

Does he return from the start against United at Anfield? It's a perfect time to take flight.Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak is a fearsome quartet on paper but one will have to drop out and that feels like a decision Slot can make nearer the time, particularly with £125m Isak having the benefit of another two weeks of football under his belt.