From the first blast of Stuart Attwell's whistle at Anfield on Wednesday, a determined Darwin Nunez was out to prove a point for Liverpool.
After being told by his manager, Jurgen Klopp, that his defensive qualities and linguistic skills needed to be improved, Nunez started the game against Fulham hell-bent on showing that he had been listening. Or at least had the message translated to him.
As the ball was knocked back to the visiting defence, the former Benfica striker hared after it, chasing it with all the boundless enthusiasm of the family's new pedigree Dobermann before it was punted up field.
VERDICT: What Liverpool fans did during Fulham win spoke volumes as Jurgen Klopp plea gets perfect answer
REPORT: Darwin Nunez has just summed up his Liverpool career in one moment
RATINGS: Liverpool player ratings as Trent Alexander-Arnold and three excellent vs Fulham
Nunez spent the rest of the first half closing down defenders, sprinting after lost causes and generally looking to cause problems through sheer physicality. It was the sort of full-blooded display that earned him plenty of plaudits from those in the crowd as his name rang out around Anfield several times throughout the slender 1-0 win.
It was his hard work that brought about the game's decisive moment too when he managed to nudge the ball ahead of the sleeping Issa Diop who subsequently floored the No.27 with his attempts to swipe a clearance up field. "He was a racehorse," was Klopp's description after the game. "He went for everybody."
While the effort was there in bucket loads from the Uruguay international, his quality on the ball was indicative of a player who was making just his first start for a month. Since the goalless draw with Chelsea on April 4, Nunez has just featured for 182 from a possible 540 minutes. That has undoubtedly led to a lack of rhythm as a result, which was evident at times during the victory over Marco Silva's side.
At 23, Nunez has plenty of time on his side to iron out the kinks and a blistering sophomore season is something the South American has become known for during his previous terms with Almeria in Spain and Benfica in Portugal prior to his initial £64m switch to Anfield last June. Fifteen goals across all competitions is a more than respectable return in his first season in England.
With Roberto Firmino set to depart this summer, Klopp will be left with five players battling it out for three slots and perhaps for the first time ever since he moved to Merseyside nearly eight years ago, the German coach does not have a clearly-defined, undisputed front three in his attack.
"I think we have a lot of options in the front-three positions and everyone goes well alongside one another," says Cody Gakpo, whose own star is on the rise at Anfield. "We practice together at training to get better together, but we have to keep improving and we have to keep scoring goals."
Introduced for Nunez at Anfield on Wednesday, Gakpo represents a much different type of centre forward for the Reds. His close control, willingness to knit the play from deep and ability to spin away from defenders on the half-turn have made him look like the heir apparent to the 'false 9' throne that Roberto Firmino has sat on over much of the last eight years.
Where Nunez - the "racehorse" - prefers to gallop into the spaces behind defenders before shooting on sight, Gakpo's qualities are more subtle and cerebral. It could be argued they are more conducive to getting the most from Mohamed Salah, but Nunez and the Egyptian have dovetailed well at times throughout the campaign, boasting the best minutes-per-chance created as a duo in the Premier League at 52 as recently as February.
At times, particularly during an injury-hit January when Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Firmino were all sidelined, Klopp has aimed to play both Gakpo and Nunez in the front three alongside Salah, with the Uruguayan encouraged to use his searing pace in wide areas.
The returns to form and fitness of both Jota and Diaz, however, have now given Klopp a plethora of options that offer him quite the blend when it comes to choosing. If Gakpo represents the locksmith, Nunez is very much the battering ram and 21 goals between them during their short tenures on Merseyside more than hints at a fruitful future.
"Right now we are really close," says Diaz of his friendship with Nunez. "We spend almost every second together from the moment we get into training to the minute we leave. It's really cool having him as a team-mate now and I'm really proud to be playing alongside him because I know just how good a player he is and his ability and quality offers us so much as a team.
"Sharing a dressing room with such great players right now at this club has just been incredible for me. Everyone learns stuff off each other here in order to keep improving and stay in the right mindset for everything that lies ahead."
Diaz has been something of an added bonus in the last couple of weeks. Having been sidelined for over six months due to a knee injury initially sustained in the 3-2 loss at Arsenal in early October, many had anticipated that the Colombia international might need a significant period of readjustment before he was able to contribute properly. Back-to-back starts that have included a goal against Spurs, however, have indicated that the former Porto star still has a part to play in the closing weeks.
"I like to score plenty of goals and make a lot of assists also," he says. "I always want to be available to help the team to be winners and that is what we want the most. We just need to be aware of ourselves and how we are playing. We have the ability, the players and the coaching staff to win every game we still have to play and each one is going to be another duel for us, like a final, and then it's on to the next one."
Diogo Jota's flurry of goals in recent weeks have also been a welcome return to form for a player whose injuries have seen him lose around six months of the season. Such have been his displays that he was nominated for the Player of the Month as a result. If Nunez and Gakpo present two contrasting styles, Jota represents the happy medium, adding another dimension to a forward line bursting at the seams with quality.
If Jota, Gakpo, Nunez and Diaz have all had various individual issues to try to overcome this term, Salah has reassuringly remained a constant. Now up to 29 goals for the season, his match-winning penalty on Wednesday night was his 99th at Anfield in all competitions. It also meant he has now scored in eight successive home games, which equalled a tally set by Luis Suarez nine years ago.
"The goals Mo scores speak for themselves," says captain Jordan Henderson. "They always have. Whatever measure you would like to use - variety, quality, value, type of opposition - he has an unbelievable knack of coming up with the good for us and he has done from the moment he first arrived here. Seeing him develop the way he has done has been a privilege and it is no exaggeration to say he has gone on to become one of the most feared finishers in world football."
Having become Liverpool's leading scorer of the Premier League era with his brace in the 7-0 historic hammering of Manchester United in March, Salah is now up to fifth in the all-time list of league goalscorers with 136 and just one behind Steven Gerrard's overall tally of 186 in fifth. Equalling that will see the Egyptian register 30 goals for the fourth time as a Reds player.
Henderson adds: "Statistics like this could only ever be hugely impressive but it is even more when you consider that Mo only came here in 2017. Putting himself in the mix with the greatest-ever goalscorers in the history of a club like Liverpool would be an unbelievable achievement in any time-frame; doing so in less than six years puts it on another level altogether."
It's telling that since Liverpool's current seven-game unbeaten run started in the goalless draw with Chelsea last month, 15 of their 17 goals have been scored by front players. That run becomes 22 of 24 when that famous result against United is factored in - which was their most recent victory prior to embarking on this stretch.
Klopp will no doubt continue to mix and match in search of a more defined first choice, but whatever the combination, as a unit, Liverpool's frontline is offering a tantalising glimpse into what can be achieved once injuries and adaptation periods are put behind to rest.
READ NEXT:
Liverpool find their game-changer but Jurgen Klopp may have hinted at transfer surprises
What Jurgen Klopp called Darwin Nunez after Liverpool win over Fulham
Michael Owen left 'screaming at the television' over Liverpool transfer calls
Liverpool dream line-up next season with Manuel Ugarte and three more big transfers
National media raise Luis Diaz question as Mohamed Salah has new 'mission' at Liverpool
