Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Roberto Firmino will soon find himself out of the starting line-up for Liverpool.
Speaking on his Vibe With Five podcast, Ferdinand suggested that the Liverpool player could be dropped in favour of Darwin Nunez. The former England defender was impressed with what he saw from Nunez on Saturday.
“Nunez came on and impacted the game and changed the game for Liverpool, without him they would’ve been struggling,” said Ferdinand.
“It was more about his willingness to run in the channels, he was aggressive, he commanded the attention of the two centre-back’s immediately, whereas Firmino didn’t. So I think it’s going to be Nunez in that number 9 shirt.”
Firmino misses his big chance
Jurgen Klopp has so far resisted the temptation to throw Nunez in at the deep end for his new club. But given his impact – he now has two goals in two substitute appearances – a first start is surely imminent.
That is likely to come at the expense of Firmino. Liverpool’s number 9 has been given the opportunity to hang onto his shirt in the early stages of the campaign. But given Nunez’s impact, and Bobby’s lack thereof, it’s an opportunity that has been missed.
With Liverpool dropping points against Fulham on Saturday, they need a good result in the next game. That comes next Monday night at Anfield.
Nunez prepares for Anfield debut
Monday would seem the perfect chance to get Nunez into the eleven for the first time. He’ll be fired up to make his Anfield debut, and under the lights for the first home game of the season, the atmosphere will be electric.
If he can continue his hot-streak against Palace, then you’d think there’d be no looking back.
That doesn’t mean that all hope is lost for Firmino, though. The man who arrived for almost £30m in 2015 could now be into his final year at Anfield. But perhaps a change of formation could prevent that from happening.
As a result of Thiago Alcantara’s injury at the weekend, Liverpool are another midfielder down. With numbers dwindling, perhaps Klopp could change to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
This could see Firmino drop in behind Nunez, with their budding friendship hopefully translating to an effective partnership on the field. Decisions ahead for Jurgen.
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