Arne Slot has indicated who is likely to lead the attack with Darwin Nunez dropping to the bench for Liverpool’s Champions League clash against Bayer Leverkusen.
Nunez was one of two players rotated out of the starting lineup on Tuesday night, with Luis Díaz stepping in for the Uruguayan and Curtis Jones replacing Dominik Szoboszlai.
This rotation comes as Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa remain unavailable, and Slot’s selection has been further complicated by injuries to Alisson and Harvey Elliott.
Just three days after their comeback victory over Brighton, the head coach will be looking for greater urgency from his team, particularly a fast start from the forwards.
During Amazon Prime Sport’s pre-match coverage, Slot elaborated on his decision to bench Darwin Nunez, suggesting that Díaz is poised to start up front.
“I don’t think there was a ‘bit more intensity’, I think there was a lot, a lot, a lot more intensity in the second half than the first half!” Slot said.
“I don’t think that the intensity has so much to do with the way we line up today.
“In general, we only have four attackers available at the moment with Darwin Nunez, Lucho Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Mo Salah, and a lot of games to be played.
“Last week we played with two No. 10s and now I chose not to play Darwin because he has played quite a lot recently and before he didn’t. Normally he would come on.
“We have to rotate also in our front three and I think today was a good day to play Lucho.”
Liverpool: Kelleher, Van Dijk, Konate, Diaz, Mac Allister, Salah, Jones, Gakpo, Tsimikas, Gravenberch, Alexander-Arnold.
Subs: Jaros, Davies, Gomez, Endo, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Robertson, Quansah, Morton, Bradley.
Read more: Confirmed Liverpool starting line-up to face Bayer Leverkusen
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