Paul Merson believes that Arne Slot should make at least one change to Liverpool’s starting line-up today from the team which faced Lille in midweek.
Darwin Nunez was rewarded for his stoppage time salvo against Brentford last weekend with a start in the Champions League on Tuesday, only his second in all competitions since the beginning of January.
However, the Sky Sports pundit reckons the 25-year-old should revert to the bench for the game against Ipswich this afternoon, citing an apparent negative impact on one of his teammates.
Merson calls for Nunez to drop out of starting XI
In his latest Premier League predictions column for Sportskeeda, Merson wrote: “I know Darwin Nunez produced an incredible cameo off the bench against Brentford, but I’m still not sure he should start this game as the centre-forward.
“Mohamed Salah is a better player when Nunez is not in the team! Nunez stays up front and when he does that, it makes Salah a bit claustrophobic, in my opinion.
“When it’s open play, Nunez is a good player. We saw that against Brentford at the end when it was like a basketball game with end-to-end action. In a game like the next one against Ipswich, where the visitors are likely to put 10 men behind the ball, I don’t think it’s wise to play Nunez.”
Nunez likely to start today despite Merson’s advice
We don’t quite go along with Merson’s claim that Nunez starting has an adverse effect on Salah’s performance – the two forwards linked up effectively with one another against Lille on Tuesday, in our view.
With Diogo Jota injured, Luis Diaz below his best at centre-forward in recent games and Federico Chiesa still being managed carefully, we suspect that Slot will keep faith with the Uruguayan to lead the line once more today.
The 25-year-old might’ve played the full 90 minutes in midweek, but it’s not as if he’s been flogged to the same extent as Ryan Gravenberch for instance, so we wouldn’t have any concerns about starting him again this afternoon.
The ideal scenario is that Nunez can grab another goal or two and Liverpool are in a handsome enough position for him to be called ashore around the 60-65 minute mark, possibly for Chiesa to then have a decent runout ahead of a prospective start against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday.
Merson has given his reasons for benching the Reds’ number 9 today, but given how effectively Slot has utilised his squad, we have full trust in the head coach to select the team that he thinks is best placed to win this particular match.
