Amid calls for Darwin Nunez to come into the starting lineup, Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has explained what the Uruguayan needs to do to earn his spot.
With Diogo Jota failing to score or assist against Man United, Nottingham Forest and AC Milan, there is a growing clamour for Nunez to take his place.
The No. 9 has been left to make do with cameos off the bench so far this season, featuring in four games but only clocking 84 minutes on the pitch.
It is no surprise, given he appears at odds with Slot’s system, but the Dutchman has already made it clear that he has belief in Nunez and that he can fit in.
Asked in his pre-Bournemouth press conference on Friday what the 25-year-old had to do to come into contention, Slot replied: “Same as all the others.
“Work really hard and then the goals will come. I think that’s what he did when he came in against AC Milan.
“First of all, you come in for the team. And then as a result of that, attackers score goals or assist.
“That’s also what happened to Cody, but it happened before with Lucho and with Mo and with Diogo. If you play in a team like Liverpool, you will always score your goals or get your assists.
“For me, it’s mainly about the work we do without the ball, and that they can score goals and that they can assist I know, and that’s the same with Darwin.
“He will get his chance in the near future, we play a lot of games and I think he’s fitter and fitter now, understands day by day better what we expect from him.
“But he’s in competition with Diogo who, in my and our opinion, has done really well in the last games.”
Slot was questioned on whether there was a confidence issue when it came to Nunez, who endured a similar struggle for consistency under Jurgen Klopp.
“No. I think he came back with a lot of confidence from Copa America, he scored some good goals,” he replied.
“Darwin always has confidence and he has every right to have this confidence, because everywhere he played he always scored goals.
“As a striker, sometimes you have a few games that you don’t score and all of a sudden you score a lot.
“As long as he brings his work rate in for the team and we bring him enough in positions, I’m 100 percent sure he or Diogo or one of the others will score his goals.”
As it stands, Jota seems likely to keep his place against Bournemouth on Saturday, with Nunez’s first start potentially to come against West Ham in the Carabao Cup four days later.
