Jamie Carragher claims there’s ‘something not right’ about Liverpool’s front three and suggests Jurgen Klopp may need to dip into the transfer market, with Luis Diaz ‘a shadow of himself’ after knee injuries
- Jamie Carragher believes Luis Diaz will have a strong second half of the season
- Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo have also struggled for form in recent months.
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Jamie Carragher believes there is something wrong with Liverpool’s attacking line and has suggested Jurgen Klopp may have to sign a replacement for Luis Diaz.
He spoke after Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal, where Mo Salah saved the day with a brilliant strike but the other strikers failed to score for the fifth game in a row.
Diaz failed to score in his seventh Premier League game on the rebound, while Darwin Nunez drew his 12th game in a row in all competitions.
Although Liverpool are still among the league’s top scorers with 37 goals from 18 matches, they have relied on Salah and their backfield players to score goals in recent weeks.
Carragher told Gary Neville Podcast: “Looking at Liverpool’s front three, there’s something wrong with them.
Jamie Carragher claims ‘something’ is wrong with Liverpool’s attacking line this season
He stated that Luis Diaz needs to have a good second half of the season, otherwise his position on the left flank could be under threat.
“Gakpo has been here for almost 12 months and he has had outbreaks, but not enough. Diaz looks like a shadow of his former self after suffering a knee injury last season.
“I really think Diaz needs to have a good second half of the season otherwise Liverpool will be on the market on the left wing in the summer. It just feels like with the departure of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino they haven’t replaced them in terms of quality.
“I know Darwin Nunez started on the bench and he’s in bad form in terms of goalscoring, but Nunez should be almost the first starter on the team.
“Even in the League Cup win over West Ham in midweek he scores a goal and creates panic, there is a feeling that even if things are not going well, he can get past someone or hit someone. Somewhere he could have done something.
“It feels like we’re still making excuses for him, but Liverpool still have the right to have a front three: Salah is your number one, Nunez is your number two, who else is in the front three?”
Diaz was sidelined for most of last season, which he suffered in October 2022 and only recovered in April.
He’s scored five times and provided one assist this season, and while he’s still clearly a huge talent, his end product has been hampered by injury.
Cody Gakpo has had flashes but not enough, Carragher says as he analyzes Liverpool’s problems
Despite Darwin Nunez’s struggles, he admitted the striker should be one of the first names in the team’s lineup and he is “creating panic” among the opposition.
Diogo Jota regained his form but was unable to play in December due to a muscle injury.
Nunez, meanwhile, has missed 15 big chances in the Premier League this season, a total second only to Erling Haaland’s 17.
Although Gakpo, like Nunez, has scored seven goals in all competitions, he has just two goals in England’s top flight and has not scored a league goal in his last nine matches.
