‘Very special’: Arne Slot praises one Liverpool star who delivered off the bench vs Manchester United

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It was another dismal Liverpool performance against Manchester United.What would be expected on the back of three straight defeats following the international break at Anfield is a performance to be proud of. Instead, fans were treated to a 2-1 defeat to their biggest rivals.The team was left unchanged from their defeat to Chelsea before the break, and it showed in the level of performance of the starting XI, who were caught out early by Bryan Mbeumo, as the Cameroonian was able to take advantage of a Virgil van Dijk misstep.Join our newsletter for news & smart analysis.

However, it was not all doom and gloom, as there were a few players who came off the bench to add more spark to a team that was lacking the fire to go on and win the game.Florian Wirtz sent Arne Slot a clear message with his performance, showing that he should have started, but it was Hugo Ekitike who caught the eye of the Liverpool boss for his cameo appearance.Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty ImagesArne Slot labels Hugo Ekitike ‘very special’ after Manchester United cameoThe Frenchman was left on the bench in favour of his £125 million counterpart, Alexander Isak, who did put on his best display all things considered.It was a surprise to see Ekitike on the bench, given he has proven himself as a real danger man whenever he has stepped onto the pitch, especially in the Premier League, where he has scored three goals.READ MORE: Could Liverpool really sack Arne Slot and who would be in the driving seat to replace himBut it was the Dutchman’s choice to leave him on the bench for this one, and considering his comments following the game to BBC Radio 5 Live, Slot may have regretted it.Slot said: “And also today, I think we can only be very positive about the new players we’ve brought in Florian Wirtz had a great second half. Hugo Ekitike, what he did was also very special.“And Jeremie Frimpong, who only came in for ten minutes, was able to create a hundred percent chance for Cody Gakpo.

So as long as the players keep working this hard, luck will come to us as well.”Hugo Ekitike should have started vs Manchester UnitedHindsight is great, but it felt that after such a great excursion with his French teammates, the player should have started instead of Isak.That is not a slight on the Swede; it was just not the game for him.The way Cody Gakpo had positioned himself and taken his chances would have been more suited to the movement of the 23-year-old more than anyone else.Some decisions Slot made were poor for this starting XI, but the one he will definitely regret the most is leaving out a player who has already proven he has a natural ability to score goals and change games.