More than a few eyebrows were raised when manager Andoni Iraola named a youthful starting lineup for Liverpool’s League Cup third-round tie against Tottenham on September 15th. Youngsters Trey Nyoni and James McConnell both lined up in midfield, while Lewis Koumas was handed a role in attack, decisions made all the more concerning when Spurs started with arguably the strongest starting lineup available to them. But in the end, the kids proved more than up to the task at hand, with all three of them starring in a resounding 3-1 Reds win highlighted by Dominik Szoboszlai’s last-minute thunderbolt.
Despite Liverpool’s march to the fourth round of the League Cup, new boss Iraola will be acutely aware that the pressure on his shoulders is slowly starting to ramp up after a less-than-ideal start to the 2026/27 Premier League season. While the Reds remain unbeaten, they have drawn three of their first four games, including most recently a goalless draw at home to Fulham in which an opening goal never truly looked like coming.
Liverpool’s slow Premier League start
Already, the Merseyside outfit find themselves six points behind both Arsenal and Manchester City, and online betting sites now make those two the clear favourites to battle it out for the title this term. The latest odds from Lucky Rebel Sportsbook currently list the defending champion Gunners as the overwhelming 4/6 favourites to defend their crown this term, while Enzo Maresca’s Blues are out at 9/4. Liverpool meanwhile are a distant 28/1 outsider already.
The slow start to the new campaign has already seen numerous key names come in for criticism. Florian Wirtz continues to attract criticism despite arriving for a whopping fee of £116m from Bayer Leverkusen last summer. Not only that, but full-backs Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez continue to come in for criticism, as does midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, who was admittedly the man of the match in that recent 3-1 victory against Spurs in the League Cup, his finest performance of the season by some distance.
So, which of Liverpool’s impressive performers in that recent Cup win could be poised for an opportunity in the starting eleven in the coming weeks should those draws fail to turn into wins? Here are the two names that impressed us the most.
Joe Gomez
The best of the non-regular starters in that Spurs win was a defender with plenty of experience, as opposed to one of the teenagers also afforded an opportunity. Defender Joe Gomez was handed the captain’s armband for the 3-1 win, and the 29-year-old proceeded to remind everyone of just how good he can be when he is fully fit and operating without any injuries.
The former England international wore the armband with real purpose, stepping into the senior role as Liverpool’s most experienced man on the pitch and looking every bit comfortable carrying it. He didn’t shy away from the physical side either. He committed fully to the crunching challenges and kept attacking every ball in the air, an approach that came at a cost when he collided with an opponent’s head during one aerial duel, resulting in him being substituted at half-time.
There were flashes of real quality too. A string of raking diagonal balls found Cody Gakpo in stride, the kind of range and precision that echoed Virgil van Dijk at his best — proof that Gomez has absorbed plenty from playing alongside the Dutchman over the years.
Gomez has been a Liverpool player for over a decade now, but he hasn’t been considered a first-team regular in over three years as injuries took their toll. Now, he appears to be back close to his very best, and an opportunity to become a first-team regular once more could well be on the horizon, especially with both starting full-backs struggling for form. The Englishman would no doubt prefer a spot at centre-back, but with both Van Dijk and new signing Jérémy Jacquet playing well in recent weeks, Gomez may well have to settle for ousting either Frimpong or Kerkez if he is to get his opportunity.
Trey Nyoni
Liverpool’s midfield has been a cause for concern. In attacking midfield, Wirtz continues to flatter to deceive and looks like a shadow of the player that lit up Leverkusen for so long. Mac Allister has also struggled to make much of an impression, while holding midfielder Ryan Gravenberch was dropped after the 2-2 draw against Newcastle on the opening day of the campaign after continually being caught upfield and leaving the Reds’ defence exposed.
In the Premier League, Iraola has lined up with Wirtz in attacking midfield and Mac Allister and Szoboszlai in deeper roles. The latter of that trio remains irreplaceable, but the former two could well be dropped should performances not improve in the coming weeks. And one young player who looks primed and ready to take an opportunity should it be provided is teenage central midfielder Trey Nyoni.
He was given another audition in that 3-1 win against Spurs, and it was an audition that he passed with flying colors. The 19-year-old carried himself like a seasoned pro up against the experienced Spurs trio of Conor Gallagher, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Lucas Bergvall. There’s a maturity to Nyoni’s game that belies his age, a teenager who reads situations like he’s played a hundred more matches than he actually has. He gave those around him something to lean on, offering composure and structure in moments that could easily have unravelled for a player so young.
It was the kind of showing that leaves little excuse for the manager to keep him out of Premier League contention much longer — if anything, this was Nyoni making the case himself.
