Jamie Carragher has urged Jurgen Klopp to start Darwin Nunez for Liverpool in tomorrow’s Merseyside Derby.
Responding to the Liverpool Echo on Twitter, Carragher said that Nunez simply has to play against Everton to avoid burning out Roberto Firmino.
Start him!” the former Reds defender wrote. “Firmino has been great the last two games, but three games in a week won’t be easy for him. Nunez has been training & it’s one of the few areas we can freshen up with the quick turnaround.”
After the loss against Manchester United, a lot of Liverpool fans would have readily agreed with Carragher here. But Firmino has three goals in two games now and should be pushing hard for the start tomorrow.
Klopp with a derby decision to make
Finally, Klopp has a different option in the forward line this season. Not since the first game at Fulham has he had the luxury of choosing between four different senior attackers.
Now that he has that choice, it will be fascinating to see who he goes with. As Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah are both pretty much nailed on to start, the final berth is a straight shootout between Bobby and Darwin.
It’s easy to see Carragher’s logic for starting the latter. Nunez will be absolutely desperate to get back on the pitch and make up for his reckless red card in his last game for the club.
The £180k-a-week man’s tenacity, pace and movement will make him a handful for most sides in the league and he could really do some damage against Everton.
On the flip-side of that, is it really wise to throw him straight back into a derby after a red card? After his headbutt on Joachim Andersen, all opposing defenders and fans will be doing their best to wind him up.
Few sets of fans will relish that like the Everton supporters will. The atmosphere will be intense at Goodison and it might be better to let him gauge the temperature of the game from the bench.
Also, Firmino should have no trouble playing three games in a week. Due to his recent injury issues, it’s easy to forget that prior to that, he was one of the most consistently picked players.
He deserves the chance to carry on in a big game having been so pivotal to the last two wins. Klopp has a decision to make, let’s hope whatever he chooses ends up being the right one.
