Liverpool need a new No.9 - and awesome Alexander Isak would be the ideal striker for Arne Slot

The Reds may be 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League table, but they could unquestionably do with a striker like the Swede

A delighted Andy Robertson said after Liverpool's 2-0 win at Manchester City on Sunday, "This afternoon couldn't have gone much better." And the Scotland left-back had a point.

Arne Slot's tactical tweaks for the game at the Etihad worked a treat, with his decision to play a striker-less system featuring two No.10s (Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai) in between regular wingers Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah playing a pivotal role in the Reds recording their first clean sheet in the Premier League for five games.

Jones and Szoboszlai worked tirelessly all afternoon, making life incredibly uncomfortable for City's players with their constant pressing while also carrying a threat on the counter-attack. Just like Salah, Szoboszlai both scored and created a goal during one of his most impressive performances to date for Liverpool, who took full advantage of Arsenal's loss at West Ham the day before to move 11 points clear of the second-placed Gunners at the top of the table.

However, the mere fact that Slot fielded a team without an orthodox centre-forward highlighted his squad's lack of reliable No.9 and, on Wednesday at Anfield, Alexander Isak has another opportunity to show why he could be the missing link in Liverpool's attack.

Persistent fitness problems

Slot's post-match revelation that Diogo Jota "could only play 60" minutes of last Wednesday's 2-2 with Aston Villa was depressingly unsurprising.

The forward may have missed a glorious chance towards the tail end of the first half, but he was having "a very good game", as his manager admitted, having already teed up Salah for the opener. He'd also just hit the bar with a fine strike from just outside the area before being replaced by Darwin Nunez.

However, Slot explained that he had to protect Jota, who only returned from his latest muscular issue in the Merseyside Derby against Everton on August 12. The thinking was that an early withdrawal would ensure that the injury-prone Portuguese would be available for Sunday's trip to the Etihad. He wasn't, though.

Jota informed Slot on Saturday that he "wasn't fully recovered yet", with the versatile Cody Gakpo also only fit to take a seat on the bench while Federico Chiesa is yet to be trusted to start a single league since joining from Juventus last summer. Slot, then, was faced with the usual Nunez dilemma.

Passenger

The Uruguayan had missed a sitter after coming on for Jota at Villa Park, and was so badly affected by the failure in front of goal that he became a passenger for the remainder of the game, leading to a very rare public rebuke from Slot.

"I can accept every miss, especially from a player that has scored two very important goals against Brentford, that's scored for us in the home game against Villa. Players miss chances, that I can accept," the Reds boss said. "But what was a bit harder for me to accept [was] his behaviour after that chance, and with behaviour I mean I think it got too much in his head where he wasn't the usual Darwin that works his [backside] off and makes sure he helps the team.

"I think he was too disappointed after missing that chance and maybe – we will never know, we will never find out - that's why he was just a fraction short [in] the moment afterwards. It's not about the chance for me, it's more about the 20 minutes afterwards where I want to talk to him about than about him missing a chance."

Time to move on

What little hope Nunez had of replacing Jota up top against City was effectively killed by his calamitous cameo against Villa. Slot knew that Liverpool were going to have to work incredibly hard at the Etihad as it was, and he decided against picking the maddeningly inconsistent striker because "defending in and around his box is not Darwin's main strength".

Obviously, Nunez's pace could have been useful on the break, but it's not like he could have any complaints about being left out given he's failed to contribute a goal or assist in the league since the middle of January. There were moments of real encouragement and progress during his first two years at Liverpool, but this season has been a step backwards.

He's simply not good enough to start up front for Liverpool and it now appears inevitable that he will be offloaded at the end of the current campaign, with the Reds likely praying that another Saudi Pro League club will make a generous offer for the former Benfica ace this summer, after Al-Nassr's advances were rejected during the January transfer window.

The club's stance may have made sense at the time, as it would have been risky to sell Nunez in the middle of a title challenge without a replacement already lined up in the notoriously difficult January transfer window, but it will be a different story in June, particularly as his sale would generate funds for a forward truly worthy of Liverpool's No.9 jersey.