Gary Lineker weighs in on Liverpool Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike debate with Arne Slot advice

Gary Lineker has compared Liverpool’s situation to that of Real Madrid’s last season, after the Reds signed both Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak in the summer

Gary Lineker has compared Liverpool’s striker conundrum to the Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe situation at Real Madrid last season.

Liverpool splashed out £79million on Hugo Ekitike, 23, from Eintracht Frankfurt in July before breaking the Premier League transfer record twice, first with Florian Wirtz for £116m from Bayer Leverkusen and then with Isak from Newcastle United for a whopping £125m on deadline day.

Isak was put straight into the starting line-up for his debut against Atletico Madrid last Wednesday, before Ekitike returned to the XI and scored during Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Everton.

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Ekitike found the net for the third time in six appearances for the Reds, slipping the ball past Jordan Pickford to give his side a two-nil lead after Ryan Gravenberch had opened the scoring.

The Frenchman delivered an impressive performance, causing havoc for the Everton defence throughout his time on the pitch.

However, there will come a point when Arne Slot contemplates fielding Ekitike and Isak together, having shelled out over £200m to secure their services in the summer.

Lineker has drawn parallels between Liverpool’s forward dilemma and that of Los Blancos, who faced a similar issue with Vinicius Junior and Mbappe both vying for the left-wing position last season.

Chatting on The Rest Is Football, Lineker pondered: “I wonder what Isak’s thinking, sitting on the bench. He’ll want to play that role. Ekitike could play on the left, and Isak, we know, can play on the left, and I think they might do that.

“But then, they might have that slight situation of Real Madrid, where they had Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe both wanting to play on the left, but in the end Mbappe was the one who converted to a nine. I’m not saying they’re that level, but they could be.”

Alan Shearer then chimed in, highlighting that Wirtz was among those overlooked for the starting line-up against Everton, despite Liverpool splashing out on him in the summer.

“You’ve got Wirtz in there as well,” Shearer noted. “It was interesting. I think it was the right choice that he [Slot] went back to his tried and tested three in the Merseyside Derby, because you know what it’s like.

“It was always going to be 100 miles per hour. He went back to what worked so well for them with that three in midfield, and left Wirtz out. The talent they’ve got in forward positions and midfield is just incredible at Liverpool.”

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