Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has a few injury concerns to deal with at the moment. Darwin Nunez stepping up could hardly have come at a better time for the Reds.
When Arne Slot arrived at Liverpool, he inherited a strong roster of players. But even so, there were a few obvious things that he could achieve that would improve things even further.Get Liverpool keeping more clean sheets? Tick. Make the Reds more controlled and dominant in games? Check.
Find a way of getting more out of Darwin Nunez? Two games might be a small sample size, but it appears to be the case that the Uruguayan is finding some form and, crucially, some momentum.Speaking live on TNT Sports before the match, Slot was asked about what he wanted to see from Nunez. “What you always want to see from a striker: scoring!” he said.
But apart from scoring, Diogo Jota — but also Darwin when he came in against Chelsea — showed how important he was also without the ball. In the end, strikers are on the teamsheet mostly for scoring, so I’m hoping he can bring that to us today.”It would be fair to say that Nunez got through plenty of work against Chelsea last weekend.
Against Leipzig, he did the same again but added a goal to his name as well, doing exactly what Slot had requested. Nunez’s talent has always been evident but his reaction to beginning the season out of the starting XI speaks volumes for the determination he has to be a success on Merseyside.
With Jota sidelined through the rib injury that he sustained when Tosin Adarabioyo landed on him last Sunday, Nunez finding his feet under the new head coach couldn’t have come at a more ideal time.
Now, he might need to do it against Arsenal too.In that potentially vital game at the top of the Premier League table — in which Liverpool could move seven points clear of Arsenal in the standings, which would be a big gap even at this point in the campaign — Nunez might be needed to stand up and be counted once more. He has already shown that he is capable, though.
With William Saliba suspended, Arsenal won’t be quite as strong at the back as Mikel Arteta’s team usually is. Riccardo Calafiori went off with an injury midweek too.Nunez has heard the message Slot sent to him loud and clear, and already begun to deliver on it.
If he can do it in Liverpool’s next fixture, too, it will be nearly impossible to keep a lid on expectations after a start of the new era that has seen the Reds win an unprecedented 11 out of 12 under their new head coach.
