Mats Hummels Makes Bold Florian Wirtz Prediction After Newcastle Draw
Liverpool were held to a dramatic 2-2 draw by Newcastle in their opening Premier League game, with Dominik Szoboszlai rescuing a point through a late penalty.
The match also marked the first competitive games in charge for Andoni Iraola and Matthias Jaissle. Much of the attention, however, was on Liverpool midfielder Florian Wirtz as he began his second season in England.
Wirtz endured a difficult debut campaign following his £115 million move to Liverpool, recording just eight goal contributions in the Premier League. But former Germany international Mats Hummels believes the 23-year-old is capable of producing a completely different level this season.
Hummels Predicts Huge Wirtz Season
Hummels took to X during the Newcastle clash to make a bold prediction about his compatriot.
The former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich defender expects Wirtz to register more than 25 Premier League goal contributions this season and even suggested that he could surpass 30.
That would represent a huge improvement from Wirtz’s eight goal contributions last season and would place enormous expectations on the Liverpool star.
Wirtz Struggles to Make an Impact
Despite Hummels’ confidence, Wirtz struggled to make a decisive impact against Newcastle and was substituted in the 62nd minute without registering a goal or assist.
He was also involved in the build-up to Newcastle’s second goal, with Yoane Wissa getting away from him before Joe Willock eventually found the net.
Still, Wirtz was among Liverpool’s better performers according to SofaScore, receiving a 7.0 rating—the third-highest mark among Liverpool players.
The midfielder completed 88% of his passes, created one key chance and recorded one successful dribble.
While it was far from his best performance, Liverpool fans will hope it is simply the beginning of a much stronger campaign.
With Hummels setting the bar at more than 25, and potentially 30, goal contributions, Wirtz has a huge challenge ahead of him.
