Liverpool boss tells Sky Sports why Darwin Nunez is now at house on Merseyside, the key behind his facet’s sturdy kind and what he is anticipating from his first go to to Kenilworth Road. Watch Luton vs Liverpool stay on Sky Sports Premier League from 4pm on Sunday; kick-off 4.30pm.

Jurgen Klopp leans again in his chair and lets out that particular giggle. “I’m not sure if he’s the most exciting, he’s very exciting, definitely!”

We’re sat down at Liverpool’s coaching floor and the subject is Darwin Nunez. Like many components of the livewire Uruguayan’s sport, his rating on the Premier League pleasure scale is tough to evaluate. But there isn’t any doubt it is a participant with severe expertise – when he places all of it collectively.

His tremendous purpose to win Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie at Bournemouth was an ideal instance of Nunez’s at occasions chaotic begin to life in a Liverpool shirt. There have been ironic cheers from the house followers when he mis-controlled a protracted cross. But they have been silenced when he went and gathered it, stepped inside his marker and whipped a shot over the goalkeeper and in.

It’s three objectives in three video games for Nunez now, with an help in every of the 2 video games earlier than that run. While he might have solely scored three of his 10 clear-cut probabilities within the Premier League, no participant with 9 appearances within the competitors this season has a greater purpose involvement fee. That is one thing we will quantify about him.

But it’s the intangible relationships behind the scenes which have given him the platform to impress after a blended first season. He is near Spanish and Portuguese audio system inside the group, with Alexis Mac Allister, Alisson and Luis Diaz associates. But with enhancing English abilities and a yr within the north west, the striker from South America now feels extra at house.

“It’s really nice to see how he settles now as a boy,” says Klopp. “The human being behind the player is really settled. Coming in, ‘Good morning!’ He gets into the English thing.

“It’s actually completely different for him. It’s tough. Nowadays you pay X, Y or Z for a participant and everybody expects they arrive in and hit the bottom working and that is clearly not that straightforward. Especially with a special language. So it is very nice to look at him by the week.

“He’s a player full of potential, nobody doubted that but it was a rocky road a little bit. But he’s here now and it’s a joy. It’s a joy to work with him, he loves training, working hard. He’s a different striker to some others but he gives you a lot of options.”

Klopp definitely hasn’t been brief on choices this season however it has been notable how, regardless of rotations, his group have been in a position to ship distinctively Liverpool performances throughout completely different competitions to this point. The identical can’t be mentioned of a few of their rivals.

The Liverpool boss places that consistency in strategy within the Premier League, Europa League and Carabao Cup – and the profitable returns its introduced – all the way down to pre-season. He was decided to maneuver on from what he describes as a “horrible” 2022/23 marketing campaign, with as a lot time as doable devoted to delivering his message to this refreshed pool of gamers.

“This year we had everybody back early,” says Klopp. “I told the boys ‘We can’t give you another week here or there’. They were all fine, we all wanted to put it right. It means we could give all the players the same information, and that’s the main thing.

“We were OK with injuries. Robbo [Andy Robertson] is a big miss, Thiago, of course. Conor [Bradley] would have had a lot of minutes already. But it’s alright so far. If you sign for Liverpool you’re a good player and if you have enough time to train and recover between the games, then you should perform.”

It’s an atmosphere which has allowed Liverpool’s academy gamers to return in and take their alternatives, too. After senior figures equivalent to former captain Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino departed in the summertime, and with an nearly totally new midfield introduced in, there was a shake-up.

From there, the likes of 20-year-old centre-back Jarell Quansah have been in a position to step up and thrive, simply as he did in moist and wild climate at Bournemouth in midweek.

“The group is a completely new set-up,” says Klopp. “A lot of our senior players, who were super important for us – nothing would have happened without them – are not here anymore. We restructured the whole group, so the middle-aged guys are the older guys, the young guys are the middle-aged guys and the very young are just the younger ones.

“Everyone was in the role two years before so they’re very open to helping all of [the young players]. [Ben] Doak was a few weeks out but the other players don’t treat him like a kid. He gets the same shout as a 30-year-old in training. That’s a show of respect. They all have that. Luke [Chambers], Calum [Scanlon], James [McConnell]. It’s a really good young group coming up and Jarell played really good at Bournemouth in difficult circumstances, against a Premier League side.”

Klopp’s expertise within the sport is little question a worthwhile steering to these younger gamers, too. But the 56-year-old could have a brand new expertise of his personal on Sunday when he makes a first-ever journey to Luton’s Kenilworth Road.

The away followers entrance has gone viral on social media – “I’m pretty sure our people will love that!” – and whereas will probably be a change from lots of the Premier League’s extra fashionable, glitzy stadiums, Klopp is relishing this away day.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” he says smiling once more. “It’s a bit different if you’re a supporter going to an old ground: ‘My god, it feels like the Premier League 10, 15 years or whatever ago’. But we face the dressing room. We put all the stuff in… ‘Ok, I cannot turn!’

“Probably it is fairly small however that is not essential. There would be the chance to vary, placed on the shirt and go and play a Premier League sport.

“We respect them a lot and what they did last year was exceptional and I liked the way they deal with the situation now, not getting nervous. They knew it’s a massive challenge, they enjoy it still and they will grab points wherever they can. We have to make sure it won’t be on Sunday.”