Liverpool had Roberto Firmino to thank for dragging them back into Saturday’s game against Brighton.
The Reds fought back from 2-0 down but couldn’t see it out as they drew 3-3 in a hectic game at Anfield, with Firmino at the double.
Bobby looked brilliant on the back of a slightly difficult couple of weeks for him. Having been included in the Brazil squad for the first time in over year, he went on to play precisely 0 minutes across their two games.
That has put his World Cup place seriously in doubt. But against Brighton on Saturday, Liverpool saw the added benefit of that rest for Firmino. They also saw what a Firmino determined to secure his place in Qatar can do.
Firmino justifies selection
It was perhaps a surprise to a few Liverpool fans to see Firmino line up on Saturday. With Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez both fit, he didn’t appear to have a chance of a look-in.
But considering that both Jota and Nunez played a lot of football over the last week, the decision did make sense.
It certainly paid off. Not only did Firmino score twice to haul Liverpool back on terms, but his all-round game was excellent, too.
Those two goals were two-thirds of his three shots during the afternoon. As per Fotmob, all three of those hit the target, with the last one being a decent header straight at Robert Sanchez.
Firmino also completed three out of three dribbles as he managed to attack a stout looking Brighton back five.
It’s that kind of form which saw him labelled as ‘elite’ by Ian Wright last season. If he can put in a few more of these displays, it will be hard for Brazil boss Tite to ignore him this winter.
Another goal in the mind of Liverpool’s No.9 will be to win himself a new contract at Anfield. After the arrival of Nunez he had looked to be winding down his time at the club.
He’s now put himself right back in the mix to earn another. Liverpool couldn’t get the win on Saturday, but that wasn’t for lack of effort from Bobby.
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