DARWIN NUNEZ gave Jurgen Klopp more reason to believe he is about to start re-paying his £85million fee.
The striker spent most of last season struggling to live up to the hype of his record arrival from Benfica
Liverpool strolled to a comfortable win over Leicester in Singapore
Darwin Nunez continued his good pre-season form with another goal
Nunez opened the scoring for Liverpool
Liverpool netted three goals in eight first-half minutes
He managed 15 goals in 42 appearances – not a terrible record – but still spent plenty of time looking stressed out as he tried to fit in.
Now the 24-year-old is beginning to look right at home.
His opener against Leicester in what became a 4-0 cruise was merely a tap-in after goalkeeper Mads Hermansen had parried a shot from Diogo Jota.
.
Yet it was his fourth goal in three 45-minute appearances that also include a 4-2 win over Karlsruher and the 4-4 clash with Furth before Liverpool left their German training camp for their latest warm–up in Singapore.
What’s more, he maintained his 100 per cent record of hitting the target with every effort on goal while also adding an assist.
Klopp, before once again making wholesale changes at half-time as he had done in each of his side’s previous two friendlies, will also have been delighted by the growing influence of Alexis Mac Allister.
It was his vision and touch that enabled Jota to get his shot away at the start of an eight-minute burst that blew away Enzo Maresca’s Foxes.
This summer, Brighton brought in the Argentine World Cup champion for £35 million to offer precisely the kind of accuracy and acumen he shown in locating Jota.
Unlike Nunez, the offensive midfielder appears to have integrated right away and is expected to provide Klopp’s team a new dimension.
In Singapore’s national stadium, which was only around half full, Liverpool had trouble keeping their opponents in check for the majority of the first half-hour.
Having shared the Treble with Pep Guardiola as his assistant manager last season, Maresca may be eager to put Pep Guardiola’s analogies to rest.
But for the opening 23 minutes of this match, Leicester performed mostly in line with the possession-based gameplan of Manchester City, forcing five corners.
Jurgen Klopp will be happy with how his team played
Alexis Mac Allister continued to impress since his switch from Brighton
Kop No 2 ‘keeper Caoimhin Kelleher also made a fine one–on–block to deny Wilfred Ndidi.
Wilfred Ndidi was stopped by Caoimhin Kelleher, the No. 2 goalkeeper for the Kop.
Following Nunez’ goal, Klopp’s team accelerated, with Trent Alexander-Arnold making another appearance in his new hybrid position as a right back and holding midfielder.
After setting up 18-year-old midfield prodigy Bobby Clark to score with a 22-yard strike, Mo Salah crossed the ball, and Jota headed it in.
With yet another promising performance, Ben Doak strengthened the impression that he is a future superstar.
With a deft header, the 17-year-old small Scottish right winger even finished off the scoring for Klopp’s club in the second half.