Darwin Nunez inspires Liverpool but concerns about Virgil van Dijk and how they cope without Mohamed Salah

It’s advantage Liverpool in their Carabao Cup tie against Fulham, but the 2-1 win at Anfield was far from convincing.

The first leg of the semi-final was drifting away from the favourites for the trophy until Darwin Nunez entered the fray and injected some excitement into Liverpool’s attack and chaos into the Cottagers’ defence.

He didn’t get on the scoresheet but Nunez had a hand in the goals that turned the game around after Willian put the away side in front, providing the assists for Curtis Jones’ deflected equaliser as well as the winner from Cody Gakpo.

Nunez had a few chances to get on the scoresheet but was denied by Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno, who’s kept the tie alive with a series of stunning second-half stops.

Liverpool’s impressive run without defeat at home extends to 16 games this term, 14 of them wins, but their latest triumph does throw up some concerns about their play at both ends of the pitch.

Before Nunez and Gakpo came on, Liverpool looked like they had no ideas against a Fulham side that’s conceded 35 goals in 20 Premier League matches this season.

They didn’t have star forward Mohamed Salah, who’s away with Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations for potentially a further six games. And perhaps in the future he’ll no longer be on their books with interest from Saudi Arabia showing no sign of coming to an end.

Dean Ashton said on commentary for talkSPORT: “Without Salah, what type of team are Liverpool? That type of performance has them feeling sorry for themselves.”

They may be fighting on four fronts this season but Liverpool’s defence isn’t as water-tight as it has been in recent seasons.

The goal they conceded was lacklustre and showed there are frailties, even from star defender Virgil van Dijk, who gave the ball away to Andreas Pereira in the Reds box before failing to block Willian’s shot.

3

Ashton said: “I think the only thing you can accuse Van Dijk of is he sometimes looks too relaxed. He’s not at the right level and focus, maybe he’s not showing the right respect for the opposition.

“Too many times he hasn’t shown that urgency in defence, how can you stand and not move when Willian is taking three touches in front of you?”

Meanwhile, Jason Cundy said post-match: “He can do this, Van Dijk. He sometimes puts in displays where you go, ‘that’s a bit rubbish…’

“Personally I think he’s overrated. I don’t think he’s anywhere near the levels of the likes of Sol Campbell, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, I don’t think he’s anywhere near that level. He’s had, what, two good seasons?

“There’s no doubt that he’s top class but I think if you’re putting an all-time Premier League team together he’s not in that team.”

But Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is impressed with Liverpool’s fighting spirit even when they weren’t at it initially.

3

He told talkSPORT: “The atmosphere was really good from the start but it wasn’t a game for a great atmosphere.

“I don’t expect people to go bonkers when we pass the balls around the formation – I couldn’t do that. But then in the moment when we stepped really into that game the atmosphere was super special and that then helped.

“We had these moments earlier in the season and spoke about setbacks and turnarounds. You cannot plan these things but they happened.

“We are 1-0 down at half time. No one said in the dressing room or thought, ‘game over’. But it’s clear if we keep playing like we play, then it’s game over, then we need more luck than you usually have but if you can force a bit of better football then we still have a chance and that’s what we did.”