Opinion

Arne Slot hints that he’s decided to drop ‘mad’ Liverpool player against Fulham after training clip emerges

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Liverpool will be hoping to get back to winning ways in the Premier League on Saturday.

The weather robbed the Reds of the chance to put right their draw against Newcastle when last week’s Merseyside Derby was postponed on safety grounds.

The cancellation ended up being no bad thing for Liverpool, with both Arsenal and Man City missing the chance to close the gap at the top of the table.

Chelsea did shave Liverpool’s lead to four points, though, and the Reds will be keen to make sure things don’t get tighter by beating Fulham at Anfield.

Marco Silva’s side drew against Arsenal last time out, however, and are only four points outside the Premier League’s top four.

As a result, Arne Slot may have some harsh decisions to make about who to pick from his Liverpool squad on Saturday. After a couple of poor performances, it looks like the boss has made a decision to drop Darwin Nunez.

Liverpool Training Session
Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Arne Slot hints at Darwin Nunez omission

Nunez has received plenty of criticism for his displays over the past couple of matches.

The Uruguayan is still Liverpool’s only recognised central striker as Diogo Jota continues his comeback from injury.

Jota was spotted training individually on Thursday, and although he did join the group later on, it seems highly unlikely that the Portuguese is ready for a starting spot on Saturday.

As a result, Slot looks set to either stick with Nunez, or try something different.

READ MORE: Darwin Nunez sends cryptic social media message after being substituted against Girona

Luis Diaz has played through the middle to good effect this season and it was the Colombian who moved centrally when Nunez was taken off in Girona on Tuesday.

And as seen during LFCTV’s ‘Inside Training’ video on Thursday, Slot looks like he has made the decision to try this again.

With the camera on the Liverpool head coach before a full-sided practice game, he could be clearly heard shouting “Lucho as the nine!” to his players before blowing the whistle. That’s what we think we’ll see on Saturday.

Nunez can have no complaints

Nunez has certainly had the chances to nail down his spot as Slot’s starting centre-forward.

The truth is that the 25-year-old simply has not done enough during the almost two months Jota has spent out injured.

It’s why suggestions that Liverpool could move for Joao Pedro of Brighton make a good deal of sense.

Jamie Carragher thinks Nunez will be sold in the summer, describing the former Benfica man as being ‘mad’ to watch after seeing his display against Newcastle.

If that is the case, then Nunez could have little to complain about. The opportunity has been there but the goals simply have not. Diaz scored a hat-trick playing centrally against Bayer Leverkusen in November and hopefully we can see a similarly prolific display on Saturday.