Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has stressed the importance of Roberto Firmino in his side this season.
The Brazilian was expected to play a minimal role in this campaign due to the big-money arrival of Darwin Nunez.
On top of the Uruguayan, Mo Salah, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota were all thought to be infront of Firmino in the pecking order.
Advert
But the German coach's comments last week suggest that the situation has now changed.
“Bobby is a fantastic player and had a good pre-season, not a perfect pre-season but a good pre-season and that’s all he needed, that he could have the number of sessions he had and could train as often as he did."
"He will benefit from that definitely during the season and from there we go.”
Firmino’s presence was missed against Crystal Palace, especially when the aforementioned Nunez was sent off, but he was poor on the opening day against Fulham.
Advert
With a huge fixture against Manchester United on Monday night growing ever closer, the 30-year-old will be needed desperately in order to fill in for the absent Nunez and Diogo Jota.
Firmino has spent seven years at Anfield, and in that time he's made 329 appearances and scored just under 100 goals.
He's won everything there is to win, and his time has most certainly been a success, but, as Klopp alluded to, there are still chapters left to be written.
Topics: Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, Roberto Firmino
Chris Stonadge