Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez have been linking up well this season (Picture: Getty Images)
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez have developed a ‘special partnership’ praising the Egyptian for helping the Uruguayan after his arrival at Anfield.
The two forwards have helped the Reds make an impressive start to the season, losing just one of their first 12 Premier League matches and sitting second in the table.
They have the chance to go top on Saturday, although that will mean winning away at Manchester City so that will be far from easy, but Salah and Nunez will be hoping to cause discomfort for the champions’ defence.
Klopp says the pair tend to seek each other out on the pitch and have developed an impressive connection.
‘You can’t become a Liverpool player if you’re not football-smart,’ Klopp told a press conference on Friday. ‘Darwin and Mo look for each other but it’s not like they cut out the other boys, it’s just a different way of playing.
‘Mo supports the boys. Darwin came here, big expectations, and Mo probably understood the situation best and saw his potential and wanted to help him. Without having the longest conversation, that was for sure the start of a pretty special partnership.’
Speaking to Liverpool’s official website, Salah told of his relationship with Nunez: ‘I think because he saw that I’m always looking at him when he’s running and [I’m] just trying to give him assists, try to give him balls, he’s always trying his best to give me the ball back. I think because we are both fast and we both have speed, it makes us understand each other’s game.
Jurgen Klopp is pleased with his new-look team this season (Picture: Getty Images)
‘But also when Cody [Gakpo] plays in that position, he’s a fantastic guy. If you understand their game, your game is going to be easier. So I’m trying always to understand the other players’ games, so I know where I could be in that position with this player and with other players it’s different. Kostas [Tsimikas] and Robbo [Andy Robertson] completely different, Darwin and Cody are also different. So I have to adapt with the players who are going to play and who’s where.’
Salah is enjoying another wonderful season for Liverpool, scoring 10 goals in 12 Premier League games, but Klopp claimed the 31-year-old can still improve.
‘Of course he can improve,’ said the German. ‘We expect that from him. Why would he be first in the building and last out if he didn’t want to improve? But he has gained experience over the years that he knows much more about the game. Completely different to when he arrived here.
‘He is really good with his team-mates, and the forward players. He is pretty special. Long may it continue.’
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