Jurgen Klopp stressed at the end of last season that Darwin Nunez could be like a new signing for Liverpool once he adjusts to life in England, and now it appears the Reds are going to reap their rewards ahead of the new Premier League season. The Uruguayan striker arrived to huge fanfare and comparisons with Erling Haaland last season and generally struggled to live up to those expectations after his £85million switch from Benfica. But in their 4-0 victory over Leicester in Singapore on Sunday, Nunez showed he is ready to hit the reset button.
Klopp was certain that Nunez’s difficulties, which saw him demoted to a bench role or shifted out wide for the second half of the season, were more to do with Liverpool’s troubles rather than the striker himself.
“There’s a lot more to come,” he said back in May. “That’s clear. He needs time to settle. The most difficult thing for a striker is to come into a team that is not clicking. “Imagine if he played for us in a good season, an 80-point or more season, he would have scored more goals, definitely. But it is like now each situation we created and we miss it and it is a more high level.”
After a full pre-season, Nunez has looked a different animal and against Leicester, this new sharpness was evident early on from the 24-year-old as he latched onto a looping ball from Alexis Mac Allister and cheekily lobbed Mads Hermansen. On that occasion, he was a fraction too quick in making his run as the offside flag went up against him, but it was a warning for Leicester – and one they failed to heed.
Klopp had spoken earlier in pre-season about how he wants his side to dominate teams, and with several gifted passers like Mac Allister and Trent Alexander-Arnold in his side, that now looks to be something they are building towards. Indeed, Liverpool’s patient build-up frustrated Leicester at times and left them camped on their edge of the box. But their first goal came from a free-flowing move after a delightful succession of two-touch passing.
With Diogo Jota set through down the left, the Portuguese’s cross-shot was palmed into Nunez’s path, but he still had a lot to do with a defender in close pursuit as he squeezed it home from a tight angle. It looked like a simple goal to score but he was in the right place at the right time – just the kind of movement Klopp would want from his No 9.
It may have been just a friendly, yet the relief was clear to see on Nunez’s face as he celebrated by pointing to what looked like a new tattoo. New ink, new striker? The Merseysiders will certainly hope so.
Once Liverpool had taken the lead, the floodgates opened. Salah on the right delayed the pass until Bobby Clark arrived and the youngster coolly placed his low effort into the bottom corner.
Just three minutes later, it was 3-0. Salah was given too much space and respect again on the right as the Egyptian curled in the cross and Jota’s glancing header beat Hermansen.
Nunez’s work was done by the half-time interval as the German boss made wholesale changes at the break, with only Caoimhin Kelleher remaining on the pitch for the second half, with Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz looking to make their mark after watching the front three of Salah, Nunez and Jota tear apart Leicester.
Another youngster, Ben Doak, came on to notch a fourth for Liverpool and it could have been more had Diaz not seen his effort ruled out by the offside flag.
Some could have easily remarked about Leicester’s leaky defence looking as permeable as last season, but Liverpool looked sharp and connected well in the final third, which will please Klopp with the new campaign only two weeks away.
And despite only playing for 45 minutes, it was Nunez who would have left the biggest impression. He managed only nine goals in the Premier League last term, but after scoring against Karlsruhe and bagging a brace in the 4-4 draw with Greuther Furth, his strike here proved he is back with a bang for his second season in England.
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