Any successful football team is built upon the strength of the relationships within it. If players possess an almost telepathic anticipation of the runs and movements their colleagues are going to make, they can make a pass without thinking and before the opposition can react.
Liverpool have lost a very important cog in their machine this summer with the departure of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich. Exactly 100 of his 120 goals for the club were assisted by others, which is more than any other player has received in the Jurgen Klopp era.
Mohamed Salah, on 97, will pass his total this season, but Mane’s absence may be more keenly felt as a converter of chances from others. The Senegalese forward was the top assist recipient for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Salah and was only one short of joint-top for Andy Robertson. As talented as Darwin Nunez is, it will take time for his relationship with his new team-mates to develop to similar levels.
