Pick the front two and keep it simple

If Arne Slot is serious about leaning into a two-up-top shape, then the conversation gets a lot less complicated for me. Pick the pair that gives you legs, threat and a bit of certainty, and stop trying to force it with lads who look miles away from their best.

Right now, that means Ekitike has to be one of them. Not as a nice idea, not as a “give him a run”, but as the starting point. He looks like the one forward who’s bringing proper life to the role, and when your attack is a bit stuttery you need someone who makes things happen rather than waits for it.

Isak needs the bench, not the blame

The tricky bit, and the bit some won’t want to hear, is what you do with Isak. For me he’s been so far off it that you can’t keep chucking him in and hoping the old version reappears. If he was slightly short, fine, you play him through it. But when a forward looks miles off the pace, it hurts everyone: the press gets loose, the link play dies, and the whole side starts forcing passes that aren’t on.

That doesn’t mean writing him off. I’m not doing that. We all know quality players come good. But you don’t fix form by pretending it isn’t happening. You fix it with a spell out, a bit of fitness, and a proper fight to get back in the team.

Ekitike and Wirtz are the non-negotiables

The two who can’t be benched, for me, are Ekitike and Wirtz. You build your attacking plan around them. Wirtz gives you that brain between the lines, the little angles, the final pass and the ability to speed things up without it turning into chaos. If you’re playing two up top, he’s the one who makes it look like a plan rather than a scramble.

So the real debate is the third attacker when you’re trying to fit everyone in: Salah, Gakpo, or someone else depending on the day. I’d still lean Salah, even if he’s not been flying, because he can be quiet for 70 minutes and still decide it. That’s just the reality of him.

The shape matters as much as the names

There is another route, mind. You could bench a couple of them and go Wirtz and Ekitike up top with a four-man midfield behind, just to get control back into the side. If you’re getting stretched in transition, sometimes the best “attacking” decision is actually adding another midfielder and letting your front two stay higher.

And if a recent tweak has already involved Dom being used deeper to make room for Salah, then that’s the sort of domino Slot might keep playing with. But whichever way you slice it, the principle stays the same: pick the lads who are sharp right now, and make everyone else earn their way back.

Written by Davey Sulls: 18 December 2025