Jurgen Klopp stood by Darwin Nunez following the striker’s missed opportunities in Liverpool’s 4-2 triumph over Newcastle United.
Liverpool claimed victory, moving ahead by three points in the Premier League standings. Mo Salah secured two goals, with Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo also finding the net.
During the game, Liverpool launched 34 shots, 15 of which were on target. This resulted in the highest expected goals tally (7.27) for a Premier League match since records began.
Despite taking eight of those shots, Nunez couldn’t get past Newcastle’s goalkeeper, Martin Dubravka.
Nunez, who joined Liverpool for £64 million from Benfica in July 2022, has scored just one goal in his last 14 matches for the Reds. However, he played a crucial role by assisting Salah’s opening goal.
Despite not scoring, Klopp pointed out that Nunez effectively kept Newcastle defenders Sven Botman and Fabian Schar busy throughout the match, and he remains unconcerned about the 24-year-old’s performance.
The Liverpool manager told Sky Sports: “Of course, he’s not happy with not scoring. I saw him involved. Football is a pretty simple game, put the ball in the back of the net but that boys have to do a lot of stuff besides that.
“He kept Botman and Schar together. We needed him there. As long as Darwin has these moments then it’s all fine. Darwin will score.
“Social media is a bit of a disturbance slightly. No-one has to worry about Darwin. He played a really good game with a really unselfish pass to Mo and he scored a goal.”