Liverpool finally got some real pay back from one of their £100m+ signings on Wednesday as Bradley Barcola hit a Champions League hat-trick.

Although Alexander Isak had been in good form before his injury and Florian Wirtz has had flashes here and there, Barcola’s treble felt like the first truly big moment from any of the trio since Isak and Wirtz joined last year.

TalkingPoints

How are you feeling about this match? Join us and follow this TalkingPoint as we visit Brentford.

Linz, Austria – October 14: Bradley Barcola of Liverpool FC celebrates after scoring his teams fifth Goal during the UEFA Champions League 2026/2027 match between LASK and Liverpool at Oberösterreich Arena on October 14, 2026 in Linz, Austria.

Souness thinks Isak and Ekitike are too fragile

It has been frustrating to see Isak miss Liverpool’s last two matches after being fit and available for their opening seven games of the season. He would surely have scored at least once had he faced LASK on Wednesday.

Iraola confirmed on Thursday that there is a possibility that the No. 9 will be ready for Saturday’s visit to Brentford, but the chances probably remain higher that he will not play.

Ekitike, meanwhile, is still a couple of months away from action, and could be available in the new year following an Achilles rupture in April. According to Souness, though he rates both players as Premier League goalscorers, Liverpool simply may not get them on the pitch enough.

Souness is a big fan of Iraola’s ‘common sense’

Though he has concerns over some of the playing staff, Souness says that he is a big fan of Andoni Iraola, who he has praised for speaking common sense, something he claims is rare to find in his peers these days.

“I have to say, I like the manager,” said the former Reds captain. “Because I lived down in Poole I used to go down and watch Bournemouth. He plays front-footed football, likeable guy when you hear him speak, it’s all common sense which is a rarity these days, rather than all the gobbledygook which coaches and managers spout.

“I like him, so I’m hoping so [that Liverpool can get back to their best], because he seems to be a good guy. I just feel when I look at Liverpool that maybe the midfield is not as good at doing the hard yards – the hard yards in football are when you don’t have the ball – and it makes the back four vulnerable.

“People talk about the back four but sometimes it’s the people in front who are not closing the ball down properly all of the time. If there’s five of you doing it, five have to do it. If four do it and one of you goes to sleep, you’ll be vulnerable.”

How Iraola could do with his very own Souness, who was neither fragile, and who certainly knew how to put in the ‘hard yards.’ In the meantime, these are certainly valid concerns from one of Liverpool’s all-time great players.