Chelsea will welcome Liverpool to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, August 13, on the opening weekend of the new Premier
League season.
Jurgen Klopp has suggested that Darwin Nunez could be in the Liverpool starting lineup to face Chelsea on the opening
weekend of the new Premier League season. The Blues will welcome the Reds to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, August 13, as
either side look to get their respective campaigns off to the best possible starts.
In each of their previous four meetings, neither Chelsea or Liverpool have managed to find the net. Following an impressive
pre-season for Liverpool, Nunez could be the one to finally bring an end to the stalemate.
The 24-year-old striker started and scored in the Reds’ four-goal demolition of Leicester City on Sunday as Klopp’s side
continued their unbeaten start to pre-season. While Nunez caught the eye, Bobby Clark, Diogo Jota and Ben Doak also
chipped in for Liverpool in Singapore.
The Uruguay international has now scored four goals in three matches this summer, and he also grabbed an assist in a 4-4
draw against Greuther Furth last Monday. With Nunez beginning to finally find his feet in Merseyside, the Reds’ decision to
splash an eye-watering £85million on him last year could finally be vindicated if he continues his form against Chelsea.
Speaking after his side’s win over the Foxes, Klopp said: “Sometimes a player needs more time, that’s how it is. You can see
he is a handful, with his speed, his goal being there, smelling it and finishing it off. In training he has looked very good. Now
two more games then Chelsea.”
Then, when quizzed on Liverpool’s attacking options this term, the Liverpool boss added: “They [attackers] all are a threat,
they all are good footballers – the ticket into the team will be the readiness for defence because you never hear about a team
being really successful with sloppy defending, it just will not happen.
“For Darwin [it’s] the same like for all the other strikers as well because I know about the quality they have and they need to
do both, like our other players have to do both as well – defend and being influential in all the offensive situations.”
While Nunez may prove to be a threat to Chelsea, Pochettino is armed with Nicolas Jackson, who has also enjoyed a
promising pre-season campaign. The Senegal international, who joined the Blues from Villarreal for £32million earlier this
summer, has scored two goals and recorded three assists in three games, with many fans believing that he could finally end
the club’s striker curse.
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Liverpool has new heir to Virgil van Dijk label amid perfect answer to Jamie Carragher doubts
Liverpool fans were left purring after one star’s performance against Leicester City, with the midfielder receiving a title
usually saved for Virgil van Dijk.
Even with Darwin Núñez and Diogo Jota once again getting on the scoresheet, and Mohamed Salah adding another two
assists to his pre-season tally, it was the Argentine that had fans purring on social media against Leicester City.
Mac Allister was superb as a rampant Liverpool brushed its newly-relegated opponent aside, taking a three-goal lead into
the break before Ben Doak completed the 4-0 rout in the second half.
READ MORE: Liverpool player ‘ratings’, winners and losers vs Leicester City as Alexis Mac Allister brilliant
The 24-year-old was instrumental in the Reds’ opening two goals, showing his outstanding composure on the ball before
picking his head up and finding Jota on both occasions. The first was a superb ball slid through for the Portuguese to force
Mads Hermansen into pushing the ball out into the path of Núñez, while the second saw him fending off the interests of a
number of Leicester players before setting Liverpool on its way for Bobby Clark to eventually sweep the ball home.
His all-round game though perfectly demonstrated why he was the first piece of Jürgen Klopp’s rebuild earlier this summer.
Mac Allister provided the perfect contrast to Liverpool’s midfield for much of last season, bringing the front three into the
action and popping up in areas across the pitch.
Granted, there will be much tougher tests to come than the ones he has faced over the past couple of weeks, but the early
signs are encouraging, so much so that fans on social media were dubbing him a ‘Rolls Royce’ of a midfielder — a moniker
that was well-used upon Virgil van Dijk’s arrival at Anfield back in 2018.
It’s a wonder then that Mac Allister’s signing has been met with some doubts recently by some high-profile pundits, the most
recent being former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson.
“I’m not sure about Alexis Mac Allister at Liverpool — he’s going to be one to watch,” Merson told Sportskeeda. “With
Henderson and (Roberto) Firmino gone, their new midfield will take some time to settle and click.”
Even Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher didn’t seem completely convinced when he commented on the signing earlier this
summer.
“I’m not sure about Alexis Mac Allister at Liverpool — he’s going to be one to watch,” Merson told Sportskeeda. “With
Henderson and (Roberto) Firmino gone, their new midfield will take some time to settle and click.”
Even Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher didn’t seem completely convinced when he commented on the signing earlier this
summer.
“He’s certainly a good player, whether he ends up being a good signing we’ll see when the season starts,” Carragher told
Sky Sports.
“It looks like he can play every position in midfield which will help Liverpool, but he looks a super talent.
“Brighton are a brilliant team, but the only thing I’d say is a lot of players who’ve come out of Brighton haven’t replicated the
Brighton form in other teams.
“Is that because they’re part of a special system at Brighton? De Zerbi has been fantastic this season, so that’ll be interesting
to see.”
It is of course early days, but for the time being at least, Mac Allister is providing the perfect answer to those doubts,
showing that Brighton form can translate to the Reds.
“It looks like he can play every position in midfield which will help Liverpool, but he looks a super talent.
“Brighton are a brilliant team, but the only thing I’d say is a lot of players who’ve come out of Brighton haven’t replicated the
Brighton form in other teams.
“Is that because they’re part of a special system at Brighton? De Zerbi has been fantastic this season, so that’ll be interesting
to see.”
It is of course early days, but for the time being at least, Mac Allister is providing the perfect answer to those doubts,
showing that Brighton form can translate to the Reds.
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