Mohamed Salah’s absence at the African Cup of Nations has thrown up a lot of questions for Jurgen Klopp. The Liverpool boss doesn’t just need to replace Salah’s presence on the right-wing, but he also needs to replace the goal-threat and creativity that the Egyptian has provided.
After all, Salah currently leads the Premier League with the joint most goals scored (14) and the most assists (8). He’s also created the most big chances (17). So his absence will be a huge a loss in a lot of areas for Liverpool – not just in terms of putting away the goals.
But thankfully, Jurgen Klopp has the ammunition to deal with the impact of Salah’s absence. And that was proven against Arsenal last weekend.
Jurgen Klopp’s Salah problem solved
Against Arsenal, Klopp may have found the perfect template to replace Salah towards the end of the game.
Initially, the Liverpool boss started Harvey Elliott on the right-wing in Salah’s absence. However, for the last half-an-hour of the match, he brought on Diogo Jota and switched Luis Diaz to the right-wing instead.
That meant Darwin Nunez moved to the left, and Jota slotted into the middle, and it was this combination which created the most threat in attack for Liverpool.
Jota was again involved grabbing himself an assist – his fourth goal contribution since his return from injury even though he is still yet to start a game.
Meanwhile, Diaz was a lively threat completing the most dribbles on the pitch. And Nunez was likewise the same on the other side, creating three chances for his teammates and coming close to scoring himself.
In Salah’s absence, this trio will be perfect for Liverpool.
The numbers behind the trio
Jota is averaging a goal or assist every 90 minutes in all competitions for Liverpool this season and he is the perfect finisher and poacher who can definitely minimise the impact of Salah’s absence.
Meanwhile, Nunez and Diaz have the ability to create chances and score from the left and the right.
In the Premier League, Nunez has actually averaged a goal contribution every 90 minutes when playing in that position for Liverpool. He’s only played 25% of his minutes in the position, but the fact that he has scored 43% of his goals from the left says a lot about where the Uruguayan’s best position might be for Liverpool.
With Diaz there is less precedence of playing on the right. But he has done it before for Liverpool in two games against Newcastle and Aston Villa back in the 2021/22 season. Liverpool won both games, and Diaz got a key goal contribution in the latter – assisting Sadio Mane’s winner.
But he’s also played as a right-winger for Porto, scoring against Casa Pia in the Cup, as well as Colombia at senior and youth international level.
So Diaz is far from unfamiliar in that role. And if he can continue playing with the same speed and directness that he has been playing with in the last couple of games, then it would make perfect sense for Klopp to use him in the position rather than Elliott, who doesn’t quite possess the same speed.
Overall, there is so much to admire about the trio of Nunez, Diaz and Jota, and the stats would suggest there is more than enough goal threat between them to alleviate the impact of Salah’s absence.
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