2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (David Anderson)
Arne Slot is delighted to see Darwin Nunez delivering for Liverpool after his difficult start to the season. Nunez had to make do with a place on the bench in the first few weeks as Slot went with Diogo Jota as his No.9.
He got his chance when Jota was forced off injured against Chelsea and repaid Slot when he bagged the winner against RB Leipzig with his second goal of the season in the Champions League in midweek. The Uruguay striker will again lead Liverpool’s attack at Arsenal on Sunday in place of Jota, who is still out with bruising to his upper body, in what will only be his fifth start of the season. Slot says he is pleased by Nunez’s contribution and praised his work rate.
"He’s put a lot of effort in and that’s the first thing you can ask of a player,” said the Liverpool head coach. “And it was also nice of him to score a goal against Leipzig. “He scored a goal, which was vital, but his work-rate was also really good and he’s not played that many games with us.
So with him there is, like the others, room for improvement in co-operation with some of the other players, but that’s normal. “He’s very good and it’s pleasing to see that after a difficult start - because Diogo played so much for us - Darwin performed well against Chelsea and Leipzig." Nunez is a very different player to Jota and while he is the archetypal fox in the box, the South American is like a battering ram.
He has blown hot and cold this season and his strike against Bournemouth was exceptional, while he has been anonymous in other games. The fans love him, after their fall-out at the end of last season, and Slot says he will tweak his tactics at Arsenal to best accommodate him. “We do adjust the gameplan to get the best from every player and as a result of that the best out of the team,” he said.
“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.” Slot also explained his decision to keep Trent Alexander-Arnold primarily on the right, rather than let him come inside to his quarterback role as he did under Jurgen Klopp , claiming he links well with Mohamed Salah .
“It’s one of the ideas we have how we want to bring the ball forward,” he said. “That combined with the quality of Trent, not only playing on the inside, but in my opinion also making the overlaps, which Mo benefits from as well. “That is helpful when Trent plays on the side rather than inside.
It’s important other teams don’t analyse us and think, ‘oh, every time they do the same. We have the answer to this.’ If we have more options for them, it’s a longer team meeting for the other manager.
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