Arne Slot wanted to see Darwin Nunez return to the scoresheet and the Uruguayan delivered as he tapped home the only goal as Liverpool kept up their perfect record
Arne Slot admits he asked Darwin Nunez for a goal before the striker notched the match winner for Liverpool in the Champions League.
The Reds kept up their perfect record in Europe as they saw off RB Leipzig in Germany. Nunez had only scored once this season but was on hand to poke home from close range. Mohamed Salah’s goal bound header looked to be going in, but Nunez made sure.
The Uruguayan has continued to face doubts over his ability to score with regularity. His slow start to the season will have done little to boost his own confidence, but the striker retains the faith of his manager and was able to deliver on their pre-match chat.
Slot told TNT Sports: “I asked for a goal. He gave us one but in the lead-up to the goal, Gakpo was important and Mo with an assist. It was a team goal. It’s pleasing to see that Darwin did a really good job today.”
Nunez’s goal struggles come as Salah continues to fire and Diogo Jota has taken his opportunity. The Portugal frontman has been a regular under Slot and has continued to deliver in the final third. He was injured on Sunday though and is poised for a spell on the sidelines.
It means Liverpool will need some of their other forward options to step up. Luis Diaz’s goal tally has only been topped this season by Salah ahead of Sunday’s titanic clash at Arsenal. Slot has won all but one of his matches in charge of the Merseysiders and was pleased with their character they showed in Leipzig.
He said: “First of all, we’re really happy for the win. We played a difficult away game against a group one game in Leipzig. We controlled the game in large parts apart from the last few minutes, We needed Virgil and Ibou and our goalkeeper. If we lost this place with a draw then I would’ve felt we lost something.”
Caoimhín Kelleher needed to make several big saves in the second-half, one from Benjamin Sesko, to ensure Liverpool remained in front. The Irishman has had to come in for the injured Alisson and Slot is thankful to have a back-up of such quality.
“Very fortunate,” he said. “It’s also a normal thing at a club like ours that you have very good players in every position. Ali was out last season and out this season again. It’s not only him. We have players who are not always in the starting lineup who did it again today.”
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