Two Players That Look to Be Finally Turning a Corner for Liverpool
Liverpool have endured a miserable 18 months or so. In May 2025, the Reds romped to the Premier League title in their first season without iconic manager Jurgen Klopp. Dutchman Arne Slot was the man who led them to the crown, with 29 goals in 38 games from the talismanic Mohamed Salah powering the Merseyside outfit ten points clear of the chasing pack. Within a year of that triumph, however, both men were gone, as were stalwarts such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andrew Robertson, and Ibrahima Konaté, and results predictably nose-dived.
The Reds forked out over £400m last summer to sign the likes of Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, and many more, but the best they could manage in their title defense was a fifth-place finish that ultimately cost Slot his head. Former Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola was brought in to replace the 2025 title-winning coach, but the Spaniard has endured a slow start to life in the Anfield hot seat.
Slow Start to Life Under Iraola
Liverpool drew three of their opening four games and a brief rally of two wins in three was brutally extinguished by Manchester City in a highly charged affair on October 11th. With the Anfield faithful baying for blood in the wake of City's 115 charges verdict, it was the Blues who delivered a series of hammer blows, scoring three sensational second-half goals in quick succession after Ryan Gravenberch's red card.
Enzo Maresca's men duly ran out 3-0 victors, prompting online betting sites to already consider the Reds out of the Premier League title race. The latest odds from online sport betting sites currently make Iraola's side a distant 20/1 shot to win the title this term, a million miles behind 1/2 favorites and defending champions Arsenal.
Throughout Liverpool's slow start to the campaign, a number of the club's top stars have come in for increasing criticism, but in recent games, there have been signs that some of them are beginning to turn a corner. So, who are they, and how far could their recent rejuvenation go? Let's take a look.
Florian Wirtz
No player has come in for more criticism over the last 15 months than Florian Wirtz. Liverpool forked out a whopping £116m to sign the young German international from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, with fans overjoyed that the 23-year-old had chosen to head to Anfield over German giants Bayern Munich. But for the vast majority of his time on Merseyside, fans have instead been wishing that their club had never parted with the cash.
It took Wirtz some 13 Premier League games to register his first assist in red, and one had to add another four games to that for his first goal. This term, things have gone from bad to worse, and the German registered just one assist and precisely zero goals throughout his first six games of the Premier League season, prompting former Liverpool star and current Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher to call for the £116m man to be dropped from the starting eleven. But it seems that scathing critique has awoken Wirtz from his slumber.
Since that 3-0 drubbing at the hands of City at Anfield, Wirtz has since gone on to provide two assists and a goal in his last three games. He played a starring role in the 6-3 victory away at LASK in the Champions League, assisting a Bradley Barcola goal in the process. He would then go on to assist Víctor Muñoz's equalizer in the 2-1 comeback win at Brentford in the Premier League, before finally bagging the winner off the bench in the 4-3 thriller against Villarreal at Anfield on October 20th. Has the German officially turned the corner?
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Ryan Gravenberch
Ryan Gravenberch played a starring role in Liverpool's Premier League title win two seasons ago, starting all but one of his side's games that term. Last season, he was almost an ever-present once again, albeit his performances dipped substantially, as did those of his teammates as the Reds slumped to fifth place in the table. This season, however, the Dutchman has endured a torrid time.
After making a pair of high-profile mistakes in the opening day 2-2 draw at Newcastle in Iraola's first game in charge, the Spanish boss dropped Gravenberch from his midfield, instead opting for a midfield double pivot consisting of Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister. However, an injury to the Hungarian saw Gravenberch reinstated to the starting lineup for the home clash against Manchester City. The former Bayern Munich man was arguably Liverpool's best player for the first hour, then he was harshly sent off for a second bookable offence, and Liverpool would concede three times in 15 minutes without their midfield anchor.
Despite being suspended for the win at Brentford, Gravenberch has retained his place in the starting lineup in the Champions League and has once again been one of the better players on the pitch in Liverpool's back-to-back wins against LASK and Villarreal. He played the full 90 minutes in each and regularly broke up opposition attacks before springing his side onto the front foot with impressive deep-lying playmaking and lung-busting runs forward from midfield. He too looks to be getting back to his very best, and if his upward trajectory continues, there's a very good chance that he could be the catalyst for Liverpool finding some much-needed steel in midfield, which could transform their campaign.