Emile Heskey has insisted that Jurgen Klopp is right to leave one player out of Liverpool’s starting XI for the majority of Premier League matches.
Despite being the Reds’ joint-top scorer so far this season with four goals in all competitions (Transfermarkt), Darwin Nunez has started only twice in the current top-flight campaign (WhoScored).
The £140,000-per-week marksman (Capology) often has to be content with making an impact off the bench, but one former Anfield striker believes that where’s the Uruguayan thrives.
Heskey told altindex.com (via Daily Express): “In terms of Liverpool’s front three, I think Luis Diaz, Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo are the best combination for Jurgen Klopp to use.
“Darwin Nunez works best at the moment coming off the bench and making an impact to unsettle teams a little later on. I really like that combination.”
There’s one obvious example to back up Heskey’s argument – Nunez’s match-winning double against Newcastle in late August, when in his 13 minutes on the pitch he turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory.
The Uruguayan’s movement (both on and off the ball) and his tigerish attitude makes him a nightmare for opponents to try and handle, and rolling him off the bench later in matches when opposition defenders are tiring can be a very effective tactic.
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At the same time, having cost Liverpool an initial £64m (BBC Sport), the 24-year-old isn’t likely to be ecstatic about being a substitute more often than he starts, irrespective of his ability to make an impact when introduced during the second half of games.
In any case, Klopp’s hand is set to be forced for the time being, with Nunez virtually certain to start the next few games at centre-forward until Gakpo returns from the knee injury he picked up against Tottenham last weekend.
That could be the Uruguay attacker’s opportunity to cash in and make him impossible to relegate to the bench, even once the Dutchman has recovered from his current convalescence.