It took over 1000 Premier League minutes, but Florian Wirtz could be turning the corner for Liverpool at a critical time, after scoring his first Premier League goal for the club in a 2-1 victory over Wolves on Saturday. While Wolves may be firmly at the bottom of the league table, it’s a significant moment for Wirtz, who came to Liverpool with high expectations and a hefty price tag following a £100 million move from Bayer Leverkusen to be the centerpiece of Arne Slot’s attack.
As Liverpool struggled to fit their new additions into the attack and Wirtz went from a ball dominant player at Leverkusen to a secondary option behind Mohamed Salah, it was tough to get any sort of consistency while the entire squad struggled and tumbled down the Premier League table as a result. But as 2025 comes to a close, there’s hope for Liverpool despite Salah being at the Africa Cup of Nations and an injury to Alexander Isakbeing injured at the moment.
Defeating Wolves pushed Liverpool into the top four for now, and while the title may still be out of reach with the Reds trailing Arsenal by 10 points, they’re also still very much alive in Champions League play. With so many new faces this season, it should come as no surprise that Liverpool have taken a step back, but with this even being the first time that Wirtz has registered attacking returns in back to back games, a corner may be being turned.
Becoming a full time starter for Leverkusen at only 17, it can be easy to forget that Wirtz is now still only 22 and playing his club soccer outside of Germany for the first time in his career. He’s an excellent soccer player, but those are things that take time. Even for seasoned veterans, adjusting to a new club isn’t something that always happens overnight.
In his slick interchanges with Liverpool attackers, he has shown flashes of why he was such a coveted player, and the first goal for a new club is the hardest one to get past. The pressure won’t be completely off as there’s pressure every time that Liverpool takes the pitch, but not needing to hear, “The last time that Wirtz scored was a friendly against Yokohama F. Marinos in August,” will go a long way.
Knocking off Real Madrid and Inter in Champions League play, some of last season’s Liverpool magic is in there somewhere. To get it back consistently, Wirtz needs to hit top form for the club, and while these performances don’t guarantee that he’ll get a third straight attacking return facing Leeds United on New Year’s Day (following this goal and an assist against Tottenham), they do raise the likelihood that the Reds can get something out of facing Arsenal away from home on Jan. 8. Win that and hope for some dropped points elsewhere and who knows, even the title chase could be down to single digits.
“The team have seen how much he did already for us, creating chances and being so close to a goal,” Slot said about Writz’s performance. “He will go on and score many more goals than one for us. I think Florian did much more than only score today.”
Taking more than 100 touches for Liverpool and attempting the third most passes on the team, Wirtz was the most involved that he has been, and he was also able to play off the left hand side of the pitch, which has usually been occupied by Cody Gakpo. It is something that Slot will need to take note of, as it’s easier for Wirtz to get on the ball whe he’s in wide positions and without Isak, this is a chance to make that work moving forward.
Liverpool need all the attacking help that they can get to make up for their defensive shortcomings and getting the best out of Wirtz is step one to figuring that out.
