Andy Robertson has reclaimed first-choice status for Liverpool in the left-back role after Milos Kerkez’s shaky start, but the Scot is still set to be out of contract at Anfield come the summer
Andrew Robertson is now Liverpool’s No.1 left-back once again(Image: 2025 Liverpool FC)
It was against Man City when Andy Robertson first truly won the hearts of Liverpool supporters. We’ve all seen the viral clip. It is January 2018 and the Scotland international, starts a defensive charge from inside his own half.
First he presses Bernardo Silva then he chases down Kyle Walker down his left-flank. The ball is played inside, first to John Stones and then to Ederson, with the left-back continuing to press both.
After nearly dispossessing the goalkeeper, he then finds himself in the right-wing position before being penalised for a soft foul on Nicolas Otamendi. A gut-busting 70-yard press, the full-back did not even touch the ball in the 15-second charge.
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But in that moment, supporters quickly found out all they needed to know about Robertson and a new fan-favourite was born.
Fast forward nearly eight years and the Scot is now a well-established club legend. A two-time Premier League champion with Liverpool, he is also a European and world champion and has won every major honour with the Reds.
Making 353 appearances for the club to date, he boasts 12 goals and a whopping 68 assists. While left-back was once a problem position at Anfield, during his time at the club, Robertson has established himself as Liverpool’s best ever player in the role in the Premier League era.
He has come a long way since that run against Man City all those years ago. At the time, it was only his 10th Premier League start for the club, having only forced his way into Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI after Alberto Moreno had suffered an untimely injury against Spartak Moscow the month before.
Robertson had had to bide his time following his £10m switch from Hull City in the summer of 2017.
And while Moreno would return to fitness two weeks after that 4-3 victory over Man City, making his return from the start in an FA Cup defeat to West Bromwich Albion, when Robertson started the next Premier League outing against Huddersfield Town, the changing of the guard at Anfield was clear.
Having made the left-back berth his own in the enforced absence of the Spaniard, he has not looked back since.
Until this season, that is, where, for the first time since those latter months of 2017, he found himself not first-choice at Anfield.
Granted, there is a big difference between a then 23-year-old adjusting at Liverpool after signing from relegated Hull City to a 31-year-old club legend losing his place to a new £40m signing.
But that is perhaps what makes Robertson the perfect role-model for Milos Kerkez. The Hungarian has admittedly struggled since joining the Reds from AFC Bournemouth in the summer, yet Arne Slot had kept faith in him at Robertson’s expense.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot speaks to Milos Kerkez after substituting him against Burnley(Image: Getty Images)
Featuring in 15 of Liverpool’s 17 matches so far this season, starting 12 times, he has made more appearances than any other player. But costly mistakes have seen performances become the subject of growing scrutiny and criticism outside of Anfield.
Having been named in the PFA Team of the Year last season, it is easy to forget that Kerkez is as young as he is, with the defender only celebrating his 22nd birthday on Friday.
While Robertson was permitted to slowly bed in at Liverpool, Kerkez was thrown in the deep end. Struggling to stay afloat, he was taken out of the firing line this week.
Robertson was handed his first Premier League start of the season last weekend against Aston Villa, and kept his place for the visit of Real Madrid as the Reds claimed back-to-back wins and clean sheets to end a wretched run of form.
The 31-year-old will be assessed ahead of Sunday’s trip to Man City, having started three games in the past seven days. But as Liverpool prepare to face their title-rivals once more, Robertson has deservedly reclaimed first-choice status.
It had been a difficult previous two campaigns for the Scot, as he struggled with injury in 2023/24 and found his own form questioned in Slot’s first season on Merseyside.
But provided with fresh competition in Kerkez, he has delivered the perfect response. And despite being previously written off, the season has actually panned out exactly how the full-back had foreseen.
“I’d a good chat with Andy last week and a good chat with him before the season,” Scotland manager Steve Clarke revealed ahead of the October international break. “And it has panned out pretty much how we thought it would at the time.
“That Kerkez would start in the team but Andy would find his way into the team. That’s what’s happened. He’s had minutes.
Andy Robertson of Liverpool is replaced by team-mate Milos Kerkez during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Phase MD4 match between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid C.F. at Anfield(Image: 2025 Chris Brunskill/Fantasista)
“On the plus side for us, if he’s getting good minutes for Liverpool but not getting all the minutes, it means he comes into Scotland camps probably a little bit fresher than he has been in recent years, which can only be good for us.
“As a player you’ve always got a point to prove to your club manager, your international manager, to all the pundits or you guys or all the fans – you’ve always got a point to prove every time you go to the pitch.”
It might have taken a few more weeks for Robertson to reclaim his starting berth, but he heads into the November international break having seen his pre-season prediction come true.
But now he has something else to fight for, beyond a starting berth – his Liverpool future.
The 31-year-old remains out of contract in the summer with his Reds career beyond this season uncertain as a result.
Last summer, he was the subject of interest from Atletico Madrid and could have moved on. In the end, he decided to stay put at Liverpool. But it remains to be seen if he will still be a Red following next summer’s World Cup.
Having been impressed by Robertson’s form since forcing his way back into the starting XI, Slot has suggested that the defender is not too old to earn a new contract at Liverpool.
On current form, such a decision would appear rather straightforward. The Scot is Reds vice-captain, after all, and has reiterated his importance both on and off the pitch this season.
His damning assessment of his side’s loss to Brentford, having been introduced as a substitute, struck a chord with supporters. And since then, after being restored to the Liverpool starting XI, he has helped reverse the rut.
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But while he might have seen off the challenge of Kerkez, for now, he knows the 22-year-old will come again. You do not spend £40m on a long-term successor at left-back, to then discard him after an underwhelming three months.
The Reds will have a number of decisions to make at left-back next summer too, regardless of what happens with Robertson’s contract.
Kostas Tsimikas and Owen Beck will both return from loans at AS Roma and Derby County for starters, leaving Liverpool with decisions to make regarding who will start the season as their first-choice left-back and who would be his deputy.
Kerkez is certain to fill one berth, with Robertson having a decisive say in the outcome of the other.
But be it next summer or beyond, at some point the Scot’s Reds career will draw to a close and Liverpool could well need to sign a second new left-back to help replace him.
Given Kerkez’s struggles, it was an easy, practically inevitable, decision to restore Robertson as Liverpool’s first-choice. But winning his place back was only half the battle.
He might have correctly predicted how his own fortunes would unfold this season, but should he again wish to stay put at Anfield, he will have to make it an equally easy decision for club bosses to award him a new contract.
But then the cycle starts once again, with his place continuing to come under threat until the moment he can no longer preserve it.
He was the hunter when pressing Man City all those years ago, both for possession and for undisputed first-choice status under Klopp.
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And he returned to such a role after losing his place to Kerkez. But now, back in possession of the left-back shirt ahead of the latest clash with Man City, he once again becomes the hunted as Father Time waits in the shadows.
Robertson is Liverpool’s first-choice left-back once again, and has already proven he will not give up his place without a fight.
But having paused the initial succession plan with Kerkez, only time will tell how many more challenges to his place he can fend off and just how long he can keep delaying the inevitable.
