Liverpool duo Virgil van Dijk and Darwin Nunez have been named in Garth Crooks' Team of the Week after the impressive victory over Newcastle on Saturday.
First half goals from Uruguayan Nunez and Cody Gakpo handed the Magpies their first loss at St James' Park this season as Nick Pope was also shown a red card for handling outside his area.
Jurgen Klopp did, however, suffer a potential blow on Tyneside with Nunez picking up a possible shoulder issue. More details are expected on that later today when the manager holds a press conference to look ahead to the Real Madrid game.
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Crooks praised the returning Dutchman in his BBC Sport column: "He's back and much to the relief of manager Jurgen Klopp. Van Dijk has been out with a hamstring injury for six weeks and Liverpool desperately felt his absence.
"Not only did they beat Newcastle at St James' Park on Van Dijk's return, they also kept a clean sheet. The question now is can Liverpool put a significant run together that could take them back into the top four? With Van Dijk back in the team they are certainly capable of it."
Leading the line alongside Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka was Nunez, who Crooks believes is starting to 'come of age'.
He said: "A few weeks ago I suggested Nunez might be suffering from stage fright especially when playing at Anfield. However, the Uruguayan is looking more like a real threat these days and much more comfortable in front of goal.
"His finish against Newcastle was emphatic and I now see a player growing in confidence. There was a moment against Newcastle when Nunez might have squared the ball to Mo Salah, and would have done six months ago, but chose to shoot and forced an excellent save from Martin Dubravka. These are all tell-tale signs of a striker starting to come of age."
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