Nunez hint at what's next for after bizarre incident changed by Liverpool

Darwin Nunez hints at what's next for Liverpool after bizarre incident transformed at Red Bull Arena

Liverpool match verdict from Paul Gorst after the UEFA Champions League clash with RB Leipzig in Germany

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With the benefit of hindsight, it was perhaps always going to be Darwin Nunez who settled a meeting with RB Leipzig Liverpool's way.

It was back in the early days of Nunez's Reds career, just weeks after his potentially club-record £85m move from Benfica, when his emergence from the substitutes' bench saw him plunder four goals in a 5-0 pre-season friendly win.

The ruthless goal glut offered a tantalising glimpse into just what the Uruguay striker is capable of and the cameo understandably whet the appetite among supporters. And while the No.9 has had a fair share of highs since that Thursday night in Leipzig back in July 2022, it's also accurate to suggest that initial promise has yet to be truly fulfilled.

Here, back in the Red Bull Arena once more, Nunez gave another performance that hinted that greater things will await him in Liverpool red. And with Diogo Jota sidelined now with a rib issue, this is Nunez's chance to really grasp his opportunity during a pivotally important run for the season's overarching ambitions. His 10th European goal for the club was enough here as Arne Slot's side again squeezed out victory from what was another tight affair.

Liverpool were content to soak up the pressure of their hosts during the early exchanges, once more growing into the game and that has been a feature of Slot's early tenure so far. No longer do the players hare out the traps and blitz teams when the mood strikes. In the long term, that might be no bad thing when it comes to energy conservation for the bigger days down the road.

Leipzig had a goal ruled out thanks to the offside flag before the visitors took centre stage. Nunez had his second of the campaign when he nudged home Mohamed Salah's nod to the back post from Kostas Tsimikas's cross.

The No.9 won't score an easier goal this season but it was exactly the sort of stuff he will want to see fall at his feet more frequently this season. There has become something of a trend for Nunez that his goals are often from the top drawer while the more straightforward chances are curiously spurned. A scorer of great goals doesn’t always make for a great goalscorer, however, so this was the sort of stuff he will no doubt gleefully gobble up.

The volume of the shots and the chances have dropped since the introduction of Slot's system but slowly Nunez is becoming a more cohesive part of the tactical framework. Under Jurgen Klopp, his bull-in-a-china-shop approach drew plaudits from the stands and electrified when it clicked, but a more sober, intelligent way of operating should, theoretically, bring about more tap-ins of the ilk he poked home here.

He should have also had a penalty awarded after a tangle with Victor Orban, which came moments after ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi had denied him a second from Cody Gakpo's sumptuous cross. Nunez led the line superbly in the absence of Jota, building nicely on the encouraging cameo against Chelsea with the winning goal. He will now have an Arsenal without William Saliba firmly in his sights this weekend and that really could be the liftoff moment if he does the business in north London.

And a word for Salah, whose nod back across the goal was his seventh assist of the campaign. The Egypt captain was quiet by his own stratospheric standards here but the assist for was his 30th goal involvement in his last 33 Champions League games.

Salah is a legend in his own time and while it is not new ground to cover, that pesky little contract problem remains a serious one to tackle. If there was any doubt as to how his output would look as he edges further into his 30s, the opening weeks of this season should surely have dispelled those concerns.

The question might now be asked: just when does a positive start actually become a good season? Slot himself will continue to play down praise and the logical response is that it will only be known much later down the line what this Reds team can achieve. But no other Liverpool manager has won 11 of his first 12 games and that shock reverse to Nottingham Forest is looking more and more like an aberration by the game.

And if the sound of You'll Never Walk Alone echoing around a venue that wasn't Anfield about half an hour before kick-off was a bizarre incident, it sounded much more familiar by the 95th minute as the away end proudly dusted it off to celebrate a third successive Champions League victory this term.

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