Slott has to kick out the Liverpool man who has lost 75% of his duels

Liverpool fought back from some adversity to avoid defeat in a hard-fought 2-2 draw with Marco Silva’s Fulham at Anfield in Premier League on Saturday.

The away side gave Andreas Pereira the lead in the 11th minute before Andy Robertson was sent off for a last-ditch tackle on Harry Wilson in the 17th. Arne SlottHowever, the team responded well to those setbacks and equalized through Cody Gakpo right after the break.

Fulham battled back in front through Rodrigo Muniz, only for Slott’s super substitute Diogo Jota to come off the bench to score a late equaliser.

While it was a decent point, given the circumstances following Robertson’s red card, there were some underwhelming players for the Reds, including Luis Diaz.

Performance of Luis Diaz against Fulham

The Colombia international was chosen to lead the line for Liverpool, ahead of Darwin Nunez and Jota, and failed to offer enough to the team at the top of the pitch.

He competed well on the physical side of the match, winning two of his four duels on the ground and both of his contests in the air, and that meant Fulham’s defenders didn’t harass the striker.

However, Diaz just finished 79% of his pass attempts and made one key pass without creating a ‘big chance’ for his teammates, which shows he struggled to provide much in the way of creativity.

And the 27-year-old striker was wasted in front of goal. He missed a ‘big chance’ and failed to convert his 0.64kG (over two shots) to find the back of the net.

Slott must drop him for back-up goalscorer Jota on Wednesday night in the League Cup against Southampton, and another player who should be dropped from the starting line-up immediately is central midfielder Curtis Jones.

Curtis Jones performance against Fulham

The Liverpool academy graduate got the nod alongside Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Shoboslai in the middle of the park, and struggled in and out of possession.

Jones was not strong enough to compete with Fulham players like him lost 75% (3/4) of his duels during his time on the pitch, showing that it was too easy for opposing players to beat him.

However, it wasn’t just his play off the ball that left much to be desired, as did the England international failed to create the only chance for his teammates.

As you can see in the table above, his midfield partners significantly outperformed him from a defensive perspective, while Soboszlai was Slott’s main creative threat.

With this performance in mind, and bearing in mind it’s a midweek cup tie, the Dutch boss must consider immediately dropping the Liverpool lightweight to the bench for Wednesday’s clash with the Saints due to his struggles on the ball and off her.