‘It’s exciting’… Jurgen Klinsmann names the player who Liverpool should start when Mo Salah goes to AFCON

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Liverpool fans will soon have to make do without talisman Mohamed Salah, for a little while at least.

The Reds have been as reliant as ever on Salah this season. Nearing the halfway point of the campaign, Mo already has 15 goals in all comeptitions.

But in January, the fun will have to be pause. As he did in 2022, Salah will head to the Ivory Coast to attempt to win the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt. That should present a chance for someone to step up at Liverpool. And speaking to ESPN, South Korea national team manager Jurgen Klinsmann thinks it should be Darwin Nunez.

“The best thing for him [Nunez] is obviously getting playing time,” said Klinsmann, when asked about Darwin’s current struggles in-front of goal.

“If Mo Salah now leaves for the Africa Cup of Nations for a couple of weeks that might be his chance. Getting more minutes on the field, getting more opportunities. It’s always down to work, work, work when you as a striker have moments where you’re struggling getting goals, you go back to the training ground and work on it. I think once somebody leaves a little bit of space for you, because he’s not there for a few weeks, that’s the opportunity.

“I think it’s exciting when you look at the players that Liverpool can add to the mix because Salah leaves. You have Gakpo, Luis Diaz, Nunez. This is fantastic. As a manager you just throw them in and say ‘come on guys work it out, find a way to score.’ Then Salah will be back in a few weeks, hopefully with a title in his case.”

Liverpool looking for new talisman

This is a good point from Klinsmann and worth delving into. Just at the moment, you wouldn’t really fancy any of the three players the coach mentions to step up and deliver in Salah’s absence. Perhaps least of all Nunez.

Although they were all contributing relatively frequently earlier in the season, their effectiveness in-front of goal has since diminished.

Nunez is famously without a goal in 11 games now. Since the Uruguayan last scored, Salah has plundered five goals. Gakpo has three and Diaz two.

It has been fine over that run of matches, as other players have really stepped up to fill the hole. The midfield has chipped in nicely, with Trent Alexander-Arnold on the score-sheet a couple of times, too.

But in the back of their minds Liverpool know that if they’re struggling to make the breakthrough, there’s always a chance Salah will pop up with a big goal.

Without the Egyptian in the team, you just don’t currently have confidence that Nunez, Gakpo or Diaz will find the net. Diogo Jota may be back by then of course, and he’s been the man in form for Liverpool, Salah aside.

Nevertheless, as Klinsmann says, Mo being away could be the chance one of the misfiring trio have been waiting for. We would love it to be Nunez, who could go a long way to quietening chatter about his future by putting the Reds on his back.

Luckily, Salah doesn’t miss too many matches while away with his country. But if Liverpool are to maintain their charge on four fronts in his absence, they’re going to need a new talisman. Please, let it be Darwin.