The identity of those directly contributing to Liverpool’s four goals so far won’t have gone unnoticed by Jurgen Klopp.
Just two matches into a Premier League campaign the Reds boss hopes will be a world away from last term’s punishing exertions and his star-studded, all-action frontline is delivering on its evident promise.
Two goals for Luis Diaz have also been added to by Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota as the Reds have taken four points from the first six on offer away at Chelsea and at home to Bournemouth. Salah and Jota can also count themselves as creators too having supplied assists in the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge and the 3-1 victory at Anfield, respectively.
For an attacking contingent upon whom much is expected this campaign, it’s been a more than encouraging start with Liverpool looking razor sharp in front of goal already.
That, as evidenced by the 18 goals scored plundered across five pre-season fixtures, was to be anticipated but it bodes well for the upcoming months that three of Klopp’s five-man attack are already up and running.
For Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez, midfield berths and substitute cameos have so far thwarted them in their efforts to get on the scoresheet but there is surely a growing confidence within the camp that Klopp has the firepower at his disposal to ensure last year’s problems are not to be repeated.
For those concerns to be truly put to bed, however, much rests on activity in the transfer market in the coming days as midfield and defensive reinforcements are chased, but while the club try to adequately strengthen other areas of the pitch, Klopp can take comfort in the sheer power of his attacking options.
Perhaps for too long during his tenure at Anfield Klopp has had a clearly defined ‘first choice’ front three. The halcyon days of Salah running riot alongside Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane will live long in the memory, of course, but the drop-off in quality whenever any of that trio were rested was often stark, even if the contributions of Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi in particular should not be easily dismissed.
In Jota, Klopp has the hard-working and tactically flexible goal poacher who has put behind him an injury-hit 2022/23 term when he spent a combined six months on the shelf with hamstring and calf injuries. The Portugal international now has eight in his last 11 Premier League games and only seven of them have been starts.
Gakpo’s versatility allows the manager the option of an attack-minded midfielder capable of carrying the ball over long distances but the Netherlands international, who made his name on the left of the frontline, is also midway through impressively adapting his game to replicate the ‘false 9’ role made famous at Anfield by Firmino.
If Jota and Gakpo are the lockpicks then Nunez is the battering ram and while he has been restricted to two second-half substitute appearances so far, his blistering pace and shoot-on-sight policy will be useful assets for the months ahead, particularly against sides who are not enamoured at the thought of sitting too deep against Klopp’s Reds.
Salah remains the undisputed main man at Liverpool and there is a reason it is he from that now legendary triumvirate who is still at the club. The highest-paid player of all time at Anfield is worth every penny and will once more be expected to take the lion’s share of responsibility for goals this term.
The Egyptian’s effort in the win over the Cherries at the weekend saw take fifth outright in the all-time list of scorers for the Reds with 187, overtaking Steven Gerrard in the process. He is the first player to score or assist in 10 successive Anfield fixtures and he is odds-on to finish as top scorer for a seventh straight season.
The main thing is we’re scoring goals,” says ECHO columnist and former Liverpool striker John Aldridge. “Although we only got one at Chelsea, we are creating and it will get better. When Klopp gets the midfielder he wants, you will see Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister further up the field.
“The balance up top can get better when there are three up there instead of four. I thought Gakpo played pretty well on Saturday, but he is not fully used to that midfield role and sometimes doesn’t know where to go. The holding midfielder area, we’ve had problems in the last couple of games and the club are looking for that.”
Since all five players have been fit and available to Klopp, dating back to mid-April when Diaz made his long-awaited comeback, the Reds have scored 29 times in 11 games with 22 of them shared across that quintet.
It’s why such a stunning array of match-winners gives Klopp ample confidence going forward, even if there is still much work to do further back.
