Massive mistake at Liverpool, costs them £280k-per-week star

Liverpool have made an enormous mistake and it’s going to cost them a true star. Not what Andoni Iraola needed, in all truth.

Andoni Iraola can be pretty proud of his efforts on Saturday. His decisions against Brentford went a long way to delivering the points in London, from his starting XI to the substitutions.

Now, to be entirely fair, Liverpool did depend on a red card to get into the game. They needed a second to safely see out the points, too, and this was not the world’s most promising display.

But the Reds did get the win at a difficult ground. Brentford had only been behind for a total of six minutes this season before Liverpool saw them off – so it’s a win that could mean a lot come May.

However, Liverpool made a mistake here. Potentially a costly one, too, as they’re now down an expensive midfielder.

Dominik Szoboszlai out injured

Dominik Szoboszlai started against Brentford but didn’t last particularly long. He went off injured on 32 minutes, having missed the last two fixtures with an injury.

This wasn’t a case of Szoboszlai picking up a new problem, however. Andoni Iraola confirmed after the match that this was the same injury – he just hadn’t fully healed.

“He has tried, he has trained the last days, but we didn’t know the minutes he’d have,” he told Sky Sports (per BBC). “It’s not another injury, he’s still not healed.”

And so the decision to start Szoboszlai suddenly looks like a gigantic mistake. Aggravating this injury is not good – it’s something that could leave the Hungarian out for quite some time, in fact, and no one seems sure when we’ll next see him.

Now, it’s understandable that Iraola didn’t want to start Trey Nyoni after midweek. He’s still young, after all. But even in that case, change the shape! Make some sort of move that means not starting Szoboszlai before he’s fully healed from his injury.

Liverpool are lighter in midfield than last season after selling Curtis Jones without a replacement. Now they’re down another option, leaving them with Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Nyoni to see them through the next little while.

It’s an error. Potentially a very costly one.