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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Mark Donlon

Didi Hamann praises Liverpool's secret weapon in attack as Reds beat Napoli

Didi Hamann praised Liverpool and outlined their secret weapon after they claimed victory over Napoli in their final Champions League Group A fixture.

The Reds strode to a 2-0 win against Napoli as goals late on from Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez helped them finish out their group stage campaign on a high.

And former Liverpool midfielder Hamann was full of praise not only for Liverpool's performance, but also the methods they applied in scoring their two goals.

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Mohamed Salah netted from barely a yard out in the 85th minute as substitute Darwin Nunez saw his header from a corner saved before it squirmed back out into the six-yard box where Salah pounced and sent it over the line with aplomb.

And following that effort, Nunez turned from provider to scorer from a similar setup as another Liverpool corner resulted in a big chance.

This time, Virgil van Dijk rose highest to head the ball towards goal only to see his effort saved - but the rebound fell kindly at the feet of Nunez, who was more than willing to tuck it away from less than a yard out.

Speaking on RTE Sport, Hamann pointed out that Liverpool must use set-pieces to their advantage when other avenues are not working out.

He said: "In the Leeds and the Forest games, they had a lot of chances off set-pieces.

"Here, there was somebody there to finish them off.

"If you can't score from open play, you've got to use set-pieces to your advantage.

"In [Kostas] Tsimikas and Trent Alexander-Arnold you've got two players who put the ball for corners in the right spot everytime.

"In Nunez, [Ibrahima] Konate and van Dijk they've got some of the best headers in the league in their team and I think when things are not going well I think they have to use set pieces more to their advantage."

And Hamann said the triumph over Napoli may just give the Reds a well-needed boost ahead of Sunday's trip to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.

He continued: "They'll be sitting in the dressing room feeling good because they've had some results in the last few weeks where they didn't feel so good afterwards.

"It's all about confidence, wins breed confidence.

"It's a huge game on Sunday, I don't think they can afford to lose away to Spurs.

"It was a step in the right direction today."

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