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Arne Slot has defended Florian Wirtz after the midfielder’s slightly underwhelming start to life at Liverpool.

Much was made of the German’s £100m price tag, which could rise to £116m, after he joined the Reds for a then-club record fee in the summer.

Having previously impressed in the Bundesliga, including as Player of the Year in Bayer Leverkusen’s title-winning season in 2023-24, the Germany international has struggled to replicate that form since his move to Anfield.

He has started on the bench in four major Premier League encounters, with Slot preferring the tried and tested midfield trio of title winners Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai in key games including the Merseyside derby and the weekend’s confidence-boosting win over Aston Villa. Wirtz replaced fellow summer arrival Hugo Ekitike in the 77th minute on Saturday.

But Slot said on Monday: “You can say he has started one of the last four but you can say he has started eight, nine, 10 or 11 games this season. I’ve said this quite a lot, not to be used as an excuse but to tell it how it is; many times we have had to play three games in seven days with no rest in between.

“For a player who comes from a different league, which is a very good league by the way, but people would agree the Premier League is a bit more intense in all of the games. The top games (in the Premier League and Bundesliga) are similar but all of the games.

“If you look at that, he has already played a lot in many games but he’s been unlucky with the end product either by himself or his team-mates,” Slot continued.

Liverpool host Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, a tricky, high-stakes encounter given the Reds’ recent poor form.

Slot will be hoping Saturday’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa will kick-start an upturn in fortunes, including for Wirtz, after a prior run of six defeats in seven games.

He continued: “For me, he’s already brought exactly what was expected. He creates a lot for the team and will have his goals. I don’t think it comes to a surprise to anyone that if you’re 22 or 23 and come to a different league, you might need some time to adjust to that intensity if you play every three days, with only two days’ rest in between.

“Before Ryan Gravenberch was sitting here [in the press conference] and it took him a while to adjust to the intensity, maybe even longer than it is going to take Florian.”