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Liverpool told Darwin Nunez is 'killing' Mohamed Salah in warning ahead of Man City clash
Jurgen Klopp's side have endured a tough start to the season.
Jurgen Klopp reviews Liverpool's win against Rangers at Ibrox
Liverpool have been warned that Darwin Nunez is “killing” Mohamed Salah and that the two players don’t get the most out of each other ahead of their blockbuster clash with Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s side travel to Anfield on Sunday in a must-win game for the Reds’ dwindling title ambitions, but Jurgen Klopp may have a selection dilemma up front.
Klopp switched to a 4-2-3-1 shape in the 2-0 victory over Rangers, and Nunez has generally played as the centre-forward with Salah wide on the right. On Wednesday, Salah came off the bench to play in the central role and scored a six-minute and 12 seconds hat-trick, having notched just twice in the Premier League this season.
Former Liverpool defender Jose Enrique believes that shifting Salah out wide to accommodate the Uruguayan is “killing” the Reds’ star man, but tipped Salah to return to his best form after his treble against Rangers.
“Mo Salah can definitely use the hat-trick to get back to his best,” Enrique told Midnite. “In my opinion, the wingers used to be strikers really, close to the centre-backs, and Salah played yesterday [Wednesday] as a striker.
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“But now with Darwin Nunez it has changed a little bit, he is the one who will run into the spaces and you have the wingers as being more open. For Luis Diaz this is helping him, because he’s that kind of winger, but it’s killing Salah.
“For his confidence he needs goals. So I’m not sure what he’s going to do against City, it’s going to be interesting. Because when he plays that central role, he makes a difference, he scores goals. But it’s definitely a big step, and Salah has to play a central role, not as wide as he’s playing now.
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“For Mo Salah, the big change for me was that he was playing more of a central role. But with Darwin now, it has changed for him. But hopefully, with this hat-trick he can get his confidence back. But the massive test is against Manchester City.”
Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson came to the same conclusion that Salah and Nunez playing together poses a problem for Klopp. “When [Roberto] Firmino doesn't start, four forwards in a line-up doesn't work out very well for Liverpool,” Merson wrote in his Sportskeeda column.
“Liverpool were at their absolute best when Salah could make his runs inside. The problem now is that he can't do that anymore with Nunez occupying that space up front and might need to change his game. Klopp didn't foresee this problem, and will need to find a way around it - it's just a little blip for the side.”