Jurgen Klopp offered a typically spiky response to a pre-match question on the inclusion of Darwin Nunez in a Premier League starting XI for the first time.
The Liverpool boss opted to start Roberto Firmino on the opening day of the campaign, only for the Brazilian to put in an ineffectual performance vs Fulham. Summer signing Nunez - who could become the club’s record signing - came off the bench to score in the second half, adding to the goal he scored in the Community Shield.
But Nunez’s goal was only good enough to earn a 2-2 draw for Klopp’s side, who know they will have to be near-perfect if they are to prise the Premier League title away from Manchester City this season.
And for the visit of Crystal Palace, Klopp has thrown his new centre forward into the line-up - at the expense of Firmino. But when asked for his thoughts on starting the Uruguayan, he angrily hit back.
“We have no other striker,” he explained. “I’m really curious that you see the lineup and prepare an interview and ask the questions you ask…but OK. The player scored last week and that’s why he starts.”
Liverpool’s injury bug returned for their home bow, with Joel Matip ruled out and Joe Gomez only fit enough for the bench. “Since then [the Fulham game] so many things have happened that I forgot it was last week.
“We had a really interesting week, a lot of things happened, but we are here. We face Crystal Palace, you can see they brought an extra defender in and they’re more counter-attacking than last week Will be a tough one but we try to make ourselves ready for it.”
Palace boss Patrick Vieira heaped praise on Nunez ahead of kick-off at Anfield and warned his defenders of the threat the former Benfica ace will pose. “It’s less mobility than Firmino,” he told Sky Sports in his own pre-match interview.
“He’s not going to come to play between the lines, he will be the main target, running in behind and more physical in the box. But we believes we have what it takes to defend well, but what we must do first is defend the crosses.”
Nunez joins Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah in a tantalising front three which is sure to become a regular for Klopp in the months to come. On that attacking trio, Vieira added: “We know how difficult it is to defend against those three forwards.
“We needed to kill the space in the wide area but when you defend five at the back, you need to give up something. It’s about shape, the organisation and how determined we are to compete against Liverpool.
