“He can’t be in the team” – Carragher urges Iraola to ruthlessly axe regular Liverpool starter

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has urged head coach Andoni Iraola to drop playmaker Florian Wirtz from the starting lineup. Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast, Carragher argued that the 23-year-old should not start in Liverpool's upcoming Premier League match against Manchester City on October 11. Wirtz has struggled to find form, scoring only five goals in 32 league starts since his £100m transfer from Bayer Leverkusen.

Iraola admitted that Wirtz started slowly during Liverpool's 1-0 victory over Bournemouth, where the German international was substituted after 70 minutes for Trey Nyoni. Journalist David Lynch also questioned whether Wirtz should be dropped following his ineffective performance. Wirtz is expected to feature for Germany under manager Jurgen Klopp during the international break before returning to Merseyside.