Florian Wirtz must’ve thought he was about to end his long wait for a first Liverpool goal midway through the first half against Sunderland tonight, but sadly it wasn’t to be.
The German playmaker was sensational in the Reds’ 2-0 win over West Ham last weekend, but it was his 17th appearance for the club since his summer move from Bayer Leverkusen without scoring.
With 24 minutes on the clock against the Black Cats, the 22-year-old looked posied to finally break his duck, but fortune conspired against him.
Many at Anfield thought Wirtz had scored
After playing a one-two with Dominik Szoboszlai, Wirtz raced into the penalty area, before a loose touch allowed Granit Xhaka to stretch out a leg and block its path.
The ball ricocheted off Liverpool’s number 7 and dropped kindly for him on the edge of the six-yard box, but Robin Roefs got out to make the save, with the ball rebounding off the Germany international and rolling into the side netting.
As noted by the Liverpool Echo‘s Paul Gorst, many of the home fans saw the net fluttering and cheered in the mistaken belief that the 22-year-old had opened the scoring, only to be quickly muted after noticing the player’s frustrated reaction.
Wirtz just needs some luck to go his way
In football, you often just need a little bit of luck to go your way, and Wirtz hasn’t had that so far at Anfield.
He thought Lady Luck was about to smile on him when Xhaka’s attempted interception dropped nicely for him, but when Roefs deflected the ball back onto the German, the ball rolled wide of the upright rather than into the net.
It was 20 years ago today that Peter Crouch netted his elusive first goal for Liverpool in a 3-0 win at home to Wigan, and our former striker will empathise with the 22-year-old’s agonising wait to finally get off the mark.
Once Wirtz keeps getting himself into threatening positions, we’re sure that goal will arrive for him and plenty more will follow!
You can view Wirtz’s 24th-minute attempt below, taken from beIN SPORTS’ match coverage and shared via @Media1414506 on X:
— Media (@Media1414506) December 3, 2025
He did score, a bit lucky, but he deserved a bit of luck.
You can’t say that wirtz isn’t trying his best. I thought tonight he was our best player. But in context that’s not saying much because the rest were inept. Outplayed by a team that’s just come out of the championship. As Jamie carragher said towards the end, these performances are getting worrying. Forget about top four, so if Liverpool supporters are content with no European football next season, and FSG don’t mind losing 80 million quid then carry on. Give slot another three years contract. Jamie carragher doesn’t want slot to be sacked, fair enough, but stop moaning then , we are woeful, we don’t press, we can’t defend, worrying performances. Irrelevant. No matter how bad it gets, you’ve made your choice. There’s worse to come yet.