Arne Slot has urged Darwin Nunez to continue his impressive performances following back-to-back victories over Chelsea and RB Leipzig as Liverpool prepare to face Arsenal on Sunday.
Nunez made a significant impact off the bench in last Sunday’s 2-1 win against Chelsea, contributing defensively and leading the attack after Diogo Jota was substituted due to injury in the first half.
The Uruguayan international then followed up that performance with the winning goal in Wednesday’s 1-0 Champions League victory at RB Leipzig.
Slot has expressed his satisfaction with Nunez’s work rate, highlighting his commitment to helping the team maintain the Premier League’s tightest defensive record.
Nunez is set to start against Arsenal, offering Liverpool the opportunity to extend their lead to seven points over Mikel Arteta’s side.
Arsenal will be missing the suspended William Saliba, as well as potentially injured players Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori, Jurrien Timber, and Bukayo Saka.
When asked how the team’s strategy changes with Darwin Nunez leading the line instead of Jota, Slot explained: “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 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.
“I think he has put a lot of effort in and that is the first thing you can ask of a player.
“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.”
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