Darwin Nunez has caught the eye with his performances against Chelsea and Leipzig, and Arne Slot‘s latest comments suggest he has seen a change in him.
Nunez replaced the injured Diogo Jota and produced an excellent display off the ball as Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-1 last weekend, before starting against Leipzig in midweek.
His impact was more in the penalty area in that 1-0 win, including touching home Mohamed Salah‘s header to ensure victory in the first half.
With Jota still sidelined, Nunez is expected to start when the Reds travel to Arsenal on Sunday, with there certainly fewer concerns over the No. 9 doing so on recent form.
• READ: Over 2 games in 4 days, Nunez showed he can be a striker for Slot’s Liverpool
Slot had previously hinted that the Uruguayan still needed to grasp how to operate in his system, but speaking ahead of the trip to the Emirates, the head coach suggested there had been a change.
“I think he has put a lot of effort in and that is the first thing you can ask of a player,” he told reporters including the Liverpool Echo‘s Paul Gorst.
“And it was also nice of him to score a goal I was a bit in doubt if it was needed for him to touch it and I think in the end it was, the ball was maybe…what do you think? Ask Mo Salah!
“Darwin needed to do it and when he scored I was thinking ‘was he offside?’. But no, it was by far not offside.
“He scored a goal which was vital, but his work rate was also really good.
“And I think he has not played that many games with us. So with him there is, like the others, room for improvement in cooperation with some of the other players.
“But that is normal. He is very good and it is pleasing to see that after a difficult start – because Diogo played so much for us – that Darwin is performing well against Chelsea and Leipzig.”
It was made clear in the early months of Slot’s reign that Jota was his first-choice striker, but that may change based on Nunez’s input while he is out with a rib injury.
But as Slot continued, he outlined how his tactics would change to suit the differences in his focal point in attack.
“It depends on what the other team is doing, if they are playing with an inverted full-back or build up with four, or if they play 4-3-3, 5-3-2,” the Dutchman said.
“The thing with Diogo, he is, in my opinion, more of a nine-and-a-half and also defensively you could almost see him as a midfielder and most midfielders defend better than strikers.
“So that is why we adjusted in the second half against Chelsea in our press because Darwin came in instead of Diogo being there.
“So we do adjust the game plan to get the best from every player and as a result of that the best out of the team and that’s defensively but also offensively.
“Darwin is a different type of striker to Diogo, so we have to use his qualities there in the best possible way as well.”
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