Nunez needs to ‘calm down’ in front of goal, says Klopp

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp has backed forward Darwin Nunez to find his goal-scoring touch, urging the Uruguay international to show composure while finishing off chances.

Nunez has had a slow start at Liverpool, scoring two goals and getting one assist in the eight games he has played since joining the club from Benfica for an initial fee of 75 million euros ($73.06 million) in the close season.

The 23-year-old also served a three-game suspension after he was sent off for an apparent head-butt on his home debut.

“I think he said himself he feels the pressure,” Klopp told reporters on Friday. “He has to calm himself down.

“You can see the movements are exceptional and if you would see him finishing in training you would think, ‘My God.’ But in the games obviously (he is) then a bit in a rush.

“He needs to calm down just in the moment to use his full range of finishing but it’s not something – as a striker you just have to feel that. Then it will go from there. So, not to change, just to keep going actually.”

Liverpool are ninth in the Premier League on 10 points after seven games. They play away to league leaders Arsenal on Sunday.

The Gunners’ Mikel Arteta said his side could get a psychological boost for their Premier League campaign by beating Liverpool and extending their lead over the Merseyside club to 14 points.

Arsenal, who have won seven of eight games, go into the weekend 11 points clear of Liverpool, who are ninth with just two wins from seven matches ahead of the game at the Emirates Stadium.

“The moment you get momentum and you are on a good run, and you can leave an opponent as far (behind) as possible, psychologically also it is very important,” Arteta told reporters on Friday.

Arteta urged his players to be fearless on the pitch, pointing to their performance in a 3-1 win over north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in their last league game.

“To win those matches, you really need to believe you can go there, win and compete against those teams and if you don’t have that component then you have fear,” Arteta added.

“Fear is the worst enemy, especially against the top teams, because this is what they use a lot of the time just to win football matches. You cannot go with any of that into Sunday’s game, the same as we didn’t when we played Spurs.”