Arne Slot tells Darwin Nunez exactly what he needs to do to get back into Liverpool's starting line-up
Today at 06:44 AM
Darwin Nunez has been told he must ‘work really hard’ by Arne Slot to force himself back into Liverpool’s starting XI.
The 25-year-old is yet to start under the Dutchman this season since he replaced Jurgen Klopp in the dugout at Anfield.
Nunez has been limited to just 84 minutes of action spread across four matches in all competitions, which has unsurprisingly resulted in no goal contributions.
Since arriving from Benfica for a club-record £85million in 2022, the Uruguay international has struggled for consistency – scoring 33 goals in 100 matches.
And Slot has suggested Nunez needs to take a leaf out of teammate Cody Gakpo’s book, who impressed on his first start this campaign in the 3-1 Champions League away win at AC Milan.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s clash against Bournemouth, Slot was asked what Nunez needs to do to win his place back into the line-up.
To which he said: “The same as always the others. Work really hard and then the goals will come.
“That’s what he [Gakpo] did when he came in against AC Milan.
“You come in and work for the team and then as a result of that attackers score goals or get assists.
“That’s what happened to Cody, but it will happen with Lucho [Luis Diaz], Mo [Mohamed Salah] and Diogo [Diogo Jota].
“If you play in a team like Liverpool, you will always score your goals and get your assists.
“For me it’s mainly about the work we do without the ball. That they will score goals or get assists, I know, and that’s the same with Darwin.
“He will get his chance in the near future. We play a lot of games, he’s fitter and fitter now, and understands day by day what we expect from him.
“But he is in competition with Diogo [Jota], who in my and our opinion, has done really well.”
Slot was then questioned as to whether Nunez is struggling with a confidence issue, to which he replied by saying: “No.
“I think he came back with a lot of confidence from Copa America, he scored some good goals.
"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."
Slot also confirmed in his press conference that goalkeeper Alisson is a doubt to face the Cherries.
The Brazilian is carrying a hamstring injury issue, with it remaining to be seen whether he will be risked against the south coast outfit.
