Team news: Expensive Liverpool summer signing only on the bench against Manchester United

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has left Florian Wirtz on the bench for today’s big game against Manchester United at Anfield.

The Reds spent big money on bringing in Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, though it’s now perhaps not too surprising to see him being dropped to the bench after struggling to make an impact.

Wirtz looked like a world class talent at his former club, but he’s barely made any kind of impact so far for Liverpool, and it seems Slot doesn’t trust him for this important match today.

See below for the full team news from Liverpool, with the Merseyside giants instead going for Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo in their front three…

Team news is IN for #LIVMUN ?

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 19, 2025

Liverpool fans will no doubt be a bit disappointed that it’s come to this, but perhaps it’ll end up being good for Wirtz in the long run.

The Germany international was always likely to need some time to adjust to playing at a new club and in a completely different league.

Liverpool haven’t been in the best form lately, but they’ll surely be the big favourites to beat United this afternoon.

The Red Devils are continuing to struggle under Ruben Amorim, whose tactics have often been a bit confusing and unsuited to the players he currently has.

Still, it’s a big rivalry, and United will surely be fired up and eager to make Liverpool’s poor run continue.

LFC will need to be at their very best to get past a tricky opponent, as we saw in their last meeting, which finished 3-3 at Anfield last season.

Who knows, perhaps Wirtz will end up making an impact off the bench?

Let us know your thoughts on that team selection and give us your score predictions in the comments below!

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Arne looking to play it a little cagey early on maybe ?
Then bring Flo’ on when opposition legs are a little tired ?
Bit risky for me..

Ha ! You never know, if we’re up by 5 by the hour mark, Arne may not bring him on at all😃😃😃.
Keep him fresh for Frankfurt maybe ?
He might use him to shine in front of a bigger German audience ?

I dare say we’ll have a better idea just before 18:30.