Liverpool find themselves in quite a strange situation right now.
The Reds are six points clear at the top of the Premier League. They topped the new-look Champions League group stage and they’re into the Carabao Cup final.
Arne Slot’s side crashed out of the FA Cup last weekend, suffering a shock 1-0 loss to Plymouth, but, that aside, things have gone perfect for the former Feyenoord boss following his appointment.
And yet in a couple of months time, he could be without three of the best players in world football.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are all out of contract and the latest reports seem to suggest none of them are close to an agreement with the club.
There are question marks over the futures of a number of other players too. Giorgi Mamardashvili recently fuelled speculation that Alisson Becker could depart in the summer.
When asked by former Manchester City winger Ferran Torres why he’s still at Valencia, he simply said “Alisson”.
The fact he’s heading to Anfield in the summer does seem to hint that the current No1 could depart at the end of the current campaign.
Andrew Robertson and Kostas Tsimkas have struggled to make the left-back position their own this term and the Reds have been linked with a number of potential replacements.
The leading candidate right now seems to be Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez.
Then there’s the whole Martin Zubimendi situation. Liverpool failed to bring in their top midfield target in the summer, despite the fact he gave new Sporting Director Richard Hughes his word.
The Merseyside club decided not to bring in an alternative but there’s still a void that needs to be filled. Ryan Gravenberch simply cannot play every single game.
So, there’s a lot to do at Anfield this summer. All of that is bare minimum though. For Hughes to really show his worth, he’s going to have to find ways to strengthen this squad rather than react to a situation.
One such way to do this would be to focus on the attack.
Liverpool are firing.
The Reds have scored the most goals in the Premier League this term (56) and they have the best player in the league right now in Salah. The three-time Golden Boot winner is already on 21 for the season, and he’s chipped in with 13 assists.
Slot’s side aren’t a one-man team but they are heavily reliant on their No11.
Remove him from the conversation and Liverpool’s leading scorer in the league this season would be Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz, both on eight. Diogo Jota has five goals and Darwin Nunez has four.
When you look a little more closely, Diaz scored five of his goals in the opening five matches. He’s netted just three times since September and he’s goalless in the league in 2025.
The Colombian is due a new contract, his current deal expires in 2027, but the club may be reluctant to invest in someone who is so erratic in the final third.
Ironically, though, he’s entirely predictable, too. This season, 67% of his efforts have been via his right foot. In fact, he’s had more headed attempts than he has left footed shots.
He’s one-footed and this makes him easier to defend and less of a goal threat.
Under Michael Edwards during his first stint with the club, Liverpool made a habit out of targeting consistently unpredictable forwards. It’s one of the reasons they signed Sadio Mane and Jota.
For example, while Jota underperformed his underlying numbers during his final season with Wolves, scoring seven Premier League goals from an expected goals (xG) total of over 12, his shot selection made him a scalable threat.
He had 69 shots that season, 45% from his right foot and 43% from his left.
Mane could finish with either foot too and this helped him become a reliable goalscorer for Liverpool, in their system which is tied to creating chances for their attackers, having been sketchy in front of goal during his two seasons with Southampton.
Semenyo could be the answer
The Reds could add another Mane or Jota this summer to help solidify their attack and provide genuine threat to Gakpo for a start on the left.
One solution for the Premier League leaders could be Antoine Semenyo.
The Bournemouth attacker has scaled his output in Andoni Iraola’s in-form team. Like Jota for Wolves, the versatile winger is underperforming his xG but the numbers make him an intriguing option.
He has an xG average of 0.33, showing he’s a reliable threat.
But the unique selling point here is the fact he’s a shot monster, averaging over four shots per 90 this term, and 52% of them have been left footed efforts while 41% have been right footed attempts.
The key part here is he gets a shot off. He’s not limited to one side and he’s a threat.
He’s primed to explode in the right environment and given the similarities to Jota and Mane, he could well be a key target for Liverpool.
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