Jurgen Klopp has thrown his weight behind Roberto Firmino after the Liverpool forward struggled to make an impact during the 2-2 draw with Fulham on the Premier League’s opening weekend, speaking to the Liverpool Echo.
The contrast could hardly have been more pronounced.
After just 51 minutes on the Craven Cottage pitch – during which he barely threatened to trouble Marco Silva’s newly-promoted backline – the man who replaced him in West London changed turned the game on it’s head almost immediately.
It took Darwin Nunez a grand total of 13 minutes to open his Liverpool account at the Cottage. There was an assist to add to his goal, too, the former Benfica star setting up Mo Salah’s late equaliser.
As such, the clamour for Nunez to take Firmino’s place in the Liverpool XI against Crystal Palace on Monday is growing. Not that Klopp will be swayed by public opinion, retaining his faith in the long-serving Brazilian.
Roberto Firmino or Darwin Nunez for Liverpool?
“(Firmino is) very important,” Klopp says in his Friday press conference.
The 30-year-old’s forgettable display at Fulham, he adds, was down to Liverpool’s lack of cutting edge and Fulham’s well-drilled organisation, more than anything else.
“If we take now our last game against Fulham, we didn’t find Bobby properly because the centre (of the pitch) was very often blocked,” Klopp adds.
“That’s why it was difficult for him. Apart from that, I don’t judge Bobby after one game.”
Klopp would not be drawn on whether Nunez or Firmino would get the nod when Crystal Palace come to town. The Liverpool boss is enthused, however, about a potential Nunez-Salah partnership.
“It’s a good partnership; Two players who are determined to score and be in decisive areas,” Klopp says.
“It’s very helpful. Mo’s in a really good moment and Darwin is settling in. This department was not our problem last weekend.”
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