4/10 Liverpool star just had his worst game for the club

There was a storm brewing at Anfield over the international break. Manchester City were finally found guilty by the Premier League on the majority of their charges around financial breaches. It’s as if the scriptwriters put together their best cliffhanger yet, with Liverpool awaiting in the first game.

In the end, the only calm in the storm proved to be Enzo Maresca’s men. Ryan Gravenberch’s dismissal turned an uncontrollable storm threatening to end City’s unbeaten start into nothing more than one contained in a teacup.

Now it is Andoni Iraola who is left to brew over what’s next. His own unbeaten start is now over and in disastrous circumstances at that – losing 3-0 – leaving him with some brutal decisions to make.

Florian Wirtz continues to prove a problem vs Man City

There haven’t been many players handed more patience in the Premier League than Florian Wirtz. The former Bayer Leverkusen star arrived for as much as £116m last summer, before struggling to adapt to English football. He wasn’t alone in his struggles, though.

Arne Slot went from Premier League winner to public enemy number one at Anfield, before facing the sack at the end of the campaign. A lot of Liverpool’s struggles were put down to the manager as well as the emotional strain of Diogo Jota’s passing. Adapting was always going to be an impossible task.

One year later, however, and there is no Slot to blame. Liverpool as a squad have been more settled. Yet Wirtz’s struggles have remained, welcoming fair criticism for the first time. To put it simply, patience is quickly running out.

On eye, Wirtz has always looked like a technical player who keeps things ticking over. But for more than £100m, Liverpool need more. On Sunday, he was hauled off after just 66 minutes having completed just two of his eight crosses, failed to have a shot on target and he lost the ball 17 times.

The big problem for Liverpool is that another issue has emerged in the wake of the Manchester City defeat – one that Iraola thought he had solved.

Liverpool star had his worst game yet vs Man City

When Liverpool kept three consecutive clean sheets before the international break, it was problem solved for the Reds. But the big challenge was always awaiting a new-look backline when the big sides arrived at Anfield.

There aren’t many tougher challenges than Man City, either. Rayan Cherki, Erling Haaland, Antoine Semenyo and Jeremy Doku from the bench were always going to cause problems – especially when Liverpool found themselves down to ten men.

Gravenberch’s dismissal opened the floodgates and one player who did not cope well was Ronald Araujo. Liverpool’s right-back problem quickly re-emerged as Doku took control.

Even prior to the red card, Josko Gvardiol’s underlap, coupled with Doku’s wide position, handed Araujo a major headache. He was stuck on whether to track a runner or mark Doku. In the end, he did neither successfully and, despite a good start to his Anfield career, he struggled in the face of his toughest challenge.

Defensively, Araujo struggled against Doku. Before the Belgian entered proceedings, the Barcelona loanee had his issues going the other way.

When Liverpool were on top, with Anfield as electric as expected, they were waiting for the killer touch. That ultimately never arrived and Araujo’s attacking struggles didn’t help – creating just the one chance.

Gone are the days of flying Liverpool full-backs. The arrival of defensive solidity provided a good platform for Iraola before the international break, only for Doku to single-handedly demolish it.

Where the Reds go from here is the big question. Conor Bradley is still not back in action, Jeremie Frimpong remains a major weakness, and Araujo’s limits were exposed against world-class opposition.

From Wirtz to Araujo, Iraola has some major issues to solve as fixtures come thick and fast.