The rip-roaring Jurgen Klopp era at Liverpool is very much over by this point, with Arne Slot’s side not quite firing on all cylinders but definitely proving that they can craft a successful campaign.
Last weekend’s Anfield defeat against Nottingham Forest was a reality check, however. The former Feyenoord boss has tactical nous in abundance and has inherited a squad of elite class. But Liverpool were imperfect last year and flaws have not been eradicated with the spinning of the wheel.
Three successive victories in the Premier League – with not one goal conceded and Manchester United left nursing grievous injuries – cast an air of invincibility about Slot’s Liverpool, but now we can see that there is much work to do if those at the summit of English football are to be toppled.
Bournemouth turn up at Anfield today, looking to avenge a loss against Chelsea last week that they will feel hard done by. Liverpool must put them away.
Liverpool team news
Alisson Becker is a fitness doubt for this afternoon’s clash, having picked up a muscular injury in training. Most Liverpool fans would tell you that the Brazilian is the best in the world, but he has missed 40 games due to injury or illness since 2019/20, more than any other Premier League goalkeeper.
He joins Harvey Elliott on the sidelines, who is still out for at least one month after fracturing his foot with England U21s. Slot did not reveal any further bad news, though did suggest that he will ring one or two changes after the victory in midweek.
He sang the praises of Diogo Jota, claiming that he “has done really well in the last games”, but given that the Portuguese forward has started every fixture this season, he might want to rotate him out for this one.
Why Slot should consider dropping Diogo Jota
Jota has long suffered from a poor fitness record. Signing for Liverpool from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2020, the 27-year-old has since scored 57 goals and added 20 assists across 150 matches, winning the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup twice.
He ranks among the top 2% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for non-penalty goals scored, the top 20% for assists and the top 19% for shot-creating actions per 90, as per FBref, with a high work rate and dynamic approach to his craft that has clearly won Slot over.
But he hasn’t scored since the opening day, with the goal a relatively easy one to convert too. The versatile forward, moreover, has missed three big chances across his past three matches and is struggling to showcase underlying metrics that suggest his position at the spearhead of Liverpool’s starting line-up is immovable – having particularly struggled against Man United, as indicated below…
There is Cody Gakpo to consider. The Dutchman ripped AC Milan to shreds earlier in the week and will be hoping to earn his first Premier League start of the season, but he is at his most effective on the left wing, so should he receive the nod, it must come at the expense of Luis Diaz.
That leaves that man. We all know who. He’s ready to announce himself after a summer of sweeping change. Darwin Nunez deserves to start.
Slot must unleash Liverpool's Darwin Nunez
Nunez has made a comedy of ball-striking errors since completing a move to Liverpool in a deal rising to a club-record £85m fee in 2022.
Frustrating? Yes. Mercurial? Yes. Brilliant? Oh yes. Nunez crackles with electric energy and brings a kind of protean skillset that allows him to earn unceasing goalscoring opportunities while keeping defenders guessing with sharp, snappy movements and deft passing into space.
But he does come with his sticking points. Nunez, still only 25, has one of the most promising attacking styles in the Premier League but he still hasn’t pieced it all together. As the table below highlights, there is plenty still to be desired.
Matches played
29 (19)
36 (22)
Goals
9
11
Assists
3
8
Big chances missed
20
27
Pass completion
67%
72%
Big chances created
11
11
Key passes*
1.0
0.9
Dribbles*
0.6 (49%)
0.4 (43%)
Duels won*
2.8 (38%)
2.4 (38%)
He’s made a bit of a name for himself as Liverpool’s “agent of chaos”, a moniker that doesn’t always play to his strengths, in truth. Nunez is erratic and lacks the composed temperament that is requisite for success if one is to become a high-class European striker.
Erling Haaland, for instance, bears all the semblance of a slab of ice when placed into shooting range. Klopp once called Nunez “unstoppable” when at his best, but that level needs to be sustained to some degree similar to that of the iceman down the M60.
Nunez does deserve to be unleashed, though; we haven’t had a real taste of the Uruguay international’s skills since Klopp left. On the note of his nationality, Marcelo Bielsa implements a 4-3-2-1 system with Uruguay and Nunez has thrived as the focal frontman.
Klopp, conversely, operated with a deeper-sitting, machine-like midfield that worked industriously to facilitate the roaming of Mohamed Salah and, historically, Sadio Mane in the frontline, with Roberto Firmino, for example, deployed as a sort of playmaking striker to knit it all together.
Sound convoluted? It was a bit of a byzantine way of pulling toward power at the top of the footballing pyramid, but Slot prefers a more controlled and cultured method, one that has seen Dominik Szoboszlai move away from the heart of the engine room and back into his favoured number ten position.
This creates a triangular shape to Liverpool’s centre, and allows Nunez to press higher up and run run run. The £140k-per-week talent ranks among the top 17% of strikers for progressive carries, the top 10% for assists, the top 13% for shot-creating actions and the top 17% for tackles won per 90.
Theoretically, then, he could seamlessly play the role of Jota, with a fluid approach to his attacking play and a defensive willingness, off the ball effort, that Liverpool’s new tactical chief demands from his players.
Oh, start him Slot, go on. Bournemouth are an aggressive and front-footed type of team and they will fall into the Redmen’s maw if they are not careful, pushing ahead and being carved open by lightning-snap breaks – mixed into Slot’s more control-focused style, of course.
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Nunez is perfect for such a task, and with the games coming thick and fast from domestic and continental angles, surely it’s time to take him off the leash.