Wirtz & Ekitike's blossoming partnership offers Liverpool hope amid the gloom

In what has been a disastrous Premier League title defence, it is the exciting attacking partnership that has developed between Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz that gives Liverpool hope their season can still be rescued.

Heading into their Super Sunday clash with Man City at Anfield, Arne Slot's side remain infuriatingly inconsistent as they still struggle to find their identity, capable of producing an away-day masterclass at the Stade Velodrome a fortnight ago, only to ship three goals at midtable Bournemouth just days later to drop out of the top four.

However, amid the gloom that has seen the champions already lose ten times in total so far this campaign, more than in the whole of last season, the recent form of two of their big-money summer signings means all is not lost for Slot and his players.

When Liverpool fell behind at home to Newcastle United last Saturday night, an audible groan could be heard around Anfield as the Reds faithful thought, 'Oh no, not again!'

Just a few minutes later, though, and the hosts were back on level terms thanks to some sumptuous approach play and quick feet in a tight space from Wirtz, showing exactly why he was brought to the club, followed by a lethal finish arrowed into the bottom corner by Ekitike to help start the comeback.

That meant the two players have now combined for six goals in all competitions so far this season, more than any other Premier League pairing, assisting three goals each, five of which have come since the end of December as their understanding together continues to grow.

And it is a partnership that going forward, excites Sky Sports pundit and former Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher.

"It's exciting because you are looking to the future of what the team can be like," he said on Monday Night Football. "Eventually it has to move on from [Mohamed] Salah and [Virgil] van Dijk.

"For the manager, last week we spoke about hope - it gives you hope seeing the new signings playing as they are.

"I think both like to play in the left channel, but when you think why you buy players like Wirtz, deep blocks - you need a player with magic feet."

It has taken time though for Ekitike and Wirtz to gel together, partly because the playmaker, brought to the club in part to help unpick Slot's much-loved low blocks, initially struggled to adapt to the physical demands of the Premier League following his then British-record £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen in June.

The duo may have taken only four minutes of their competitive debut to combine for the opener in August's Community Shield loss to Crystal Palace, linking up nicely in the lefthand channel of Wembley's vast acres, an area of the pitch both love to occupy.

But while Ekitike, 23, then hit the ground running, scoring three more times, as well as contributing an assist, in his next five league matches, incredibly Wirtz had to wait until Liverpool's win against bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers on December 27 to score his first goal for the club.

The real low point for Wirtz came in November against Sunday's opponents as Liverpool produced an anaemic display to go down 3-0 at the Etihad, with the German, who was brought to the club to help make them more dynamic in attack, anonymous throughout.

"I thought Wirtz in particular - it was a really bad day for him," said Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville on his podcast.

"We've been tip toeing around him haven't we, for a few months, around the fact that he's young, coming to a new country. But he's £120m, you're going to have to stand up soon.

"He's been mauled out there today by [Matheus] Nunes and by others. He's been chucked around the pitch and didn't deliver in the quality side of things either. His performance was a real worry.

"Wirtz is a problem, let's call it what it is. It's an issue. He's £120m and he looked like a little boy out there."

Ekitike, meanwhile, was by now also going through his own struggles in front of goal having not scored in the league since September, but since that dark winter's afternoon in Manchester, the duo have gradually begun to show why the club were prepared to invest just shy of £200m to bring them to Anfield last summer.

Wirtz, 22, has bulked up, doing more work in the gym to cope with the physicality of the Premier League that often shocks new signings from abroad, while the more he played, the better his understanding became with his team-mates.

"First and foremost, credit to the player because he has to do the work," said Slot ahead of his side's trip to City this weekend.

"Not only on the pitch but also in the gym. Then as a manager, even if he is struggling a little bit at the start, you have to keep playing him because that is the only way he can improve. He is an example of that.

"I think he didn't improve that much on the ball because from the start he was special maybe now he has a better connection with his team-mates because they've played more and more together. Off the ball is where I see the biggest improvement with him, and some others, and that combination makes you ready for the Premier League."

However, it is the on-field chemistry between Ekitike and Wirtz, who have also formed a strong bond off the pitch having both played in the Bundesliga with Eintracht Frankfurt and Leverkusen respectively prior to moving to Anfield, that has really begun to flourish of late.

"He is just unbelievable," said Wirtz of Ekitike after his eye-catching double helped the champions return to winning ways in the league last weekend, while also taking his own tally to an impressive 15 goals in all competitions so far this season.

"You can see him today again two fantastic goals, and it is just fun to play with him on the pitch. Happy I could assist him again today after many assists from him to me."

Such has been Ekitike's impact in his debut campaign in England that Steven Gerrard has even likened him to former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres, who scored 81 goals in 142 games for the club between 2007 and 2011.

"He reminds me of Torres, this player, every time I watch him," the Liverpool great told TNT Sports. "He's scoring similar types of goals, where if you give him space in the channel, he'll run it, he's too quick, you can't catch him and he's deadly."

Carra agrees, saying: "I think Ekitike is a better player than Torres. He may not get as many goals, but Torres was made by Gerrard at Liverpool. Ekitike wont reply on Wirtz as much, but, if the combination keeps going, he could get the goals Torres got."

As for Wirtz, it is now four in his last seven top-flight matches having had to wait to the midway point of the season to register his first league goal for Liverpool and Carragher hopes he can now take that form with him into Sunday's huge clash against City.

"Wirtz is getting better all the time," he said. "Eventually, the mantle has to be passed on, and there is no doubt the lad has real quality.

"The Premier League has lost Kevin De Bruyne, [but] we have gained Wirtz. We are talking about special players coming into our league. I have watched him a lot and thought about whether he can get to De Bruyne's level. When I watch Wirtz, I think he could be lovely on the eye like David Silva, but he has almost a bit of both.

"I'm not sure if he will get the numbers De Bruyne got. But, talking about a slow start, one of the games was City away and Gary Neville said he looked like a boy out there - now he has City at Anfield.

"He is confident. He has gone from a little boy, and it's a great opportunity to shove those words down Neville's throat."

And while Liverpool have, rightly, been accused of being boring to watch this season, with these two now bringing some much-needed dynamism to their previously stilted attack, the future may not be so downbeat after all.