Saturday afternoon marked the start of a new era for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
Having enjoyed the fruits of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino's labour over the past five seasons, the famed trio - who will be remembered as one of the finest Anfield has ever witnessed - was broken up following the former's £35m switch to Bayern Munich earlier this summer.
For Liverpool, and for Klopp, it handed them the opportunity to redefine their attack as they look to prolong their recent success on the domestic and European stage. And with each member of the Reds' former trio turning 30 years old last campaign, Klopp was tasked with bringing in a younger attacking option who could act as a long-term replacement for Firmino - who has less than a year left on his current Anfield deal and is yet to agree on fresh terms with the club.
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Darwin Nunez's arrival from Benfica for an initial £64m, presented Liverpool with a new way of lining up in attack as the Uruguayan became the first traditional No.9 to walk through the doors of Anfield since Christian Benteke's £32.5m move from Aston Villa in 2015.
The Reds' opening game of the season, a pulsating 2-2 draw with newly-promoted Fulham, provided plenty of pointers into just how the 23-year-old will operate alongside Luis Diaz and Salah as part of a new-look trio for the upcoming season.
Since Salah's arrival from AS Roma in the summer of 2017, more often than not, Klopp has deployed a 4-3-3 formation at Anfield. However, given the importance of both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson in attack - with the pair firing 115 assists between them in those five years - forwards Salah and Mane had tended to position themselves extremely narrowly in the attacking third in order to allow the flying full-backs room to operate on their respective flanks.
Complemented by the intelligence of Firmino in a 'false nine' role - where the Brazilian frequently dropped in opposition pockets to orchestrate the Reds' build-up play - the African duo enjoyed great success as they won the Premier League Golden Boot on four different occasions between them.
Despite the small sample size of Nunez's time as a Liverpool player thus far, with the former Benfica man coming off the bench in his first two competitive appearances to rack up just over 70 minutes of action, Saturday's encounter at Craven Cottage suggested that Salah could be about to profit from a tweak in the Reds' system this term.
Introduced with Liverpool trailing 1-0 to Marco Silva's side after 50 minutes in West London, Nunez wasted no time in making a gigantic impact on his Premier League debut. Causing havoc to the Whites' defenders with his peeling runs off the shoulder and relentless movement inside the box, the 23-year-old flicked home an equaliser less than 15 minutes after being summed from the bench.
It was a fine finish that opened Liverpool and Nunez's account for the new season, but it was his link-up play with Mohamed Salah which offered great detail as to how the pair could strike up a wonderful relationship during their time as teammates.
After a difficult first half, following the Uruguayan's introduction, Salah moved further towards the touchline and took up a wider position than what has become expected of him during his second spell in English football.
Additionally, the simultaneous introduction of midfielder Harvey Elliott - who occupied the half-space superbly - allowed the Egyptian to roam free for large periods of the second half as Fulham full-back Antonee Robinson was tasked with stepping into midfield to try and stifle the 19-year-old's shining impact.
The consequences of Liverpool's No.11 pulling out wide were amplified by the Reds' first goal [pictured below], where Salah was handed the freedom of the River Thames after being played through by Elliott. But instead of cutting inside into a more central position, like what had previously been the case with the Egyptian, Salah's wide position saw him pick out Nunez perfectly with a right-footed pass across the Whites' penalty area - which the Uruguayan converted with delicacy.
Full-backs Kenny Tete and Robinson had done well in keeping Firmino, Diaz and Salah fairly quiet during a disappointing 45 minutes for Klopp's side, however, Nunez's arrival took the focus off the Reds' wide forwards as the former Benfica man then occupied large parts of Fulham's defence single-handedly.
In the image below, Salah can be seen just moments before teeing up James Milner to fire a cross into the Fulham penalty area, which eventually resulted in Diaz prodding just wide. However, the still shows Nunez occupying the attention of Fulham's defenders at the back post - which immediately handed Salah more freedom out on the right-hand side.
Of course, the Egyptian wouldn't finish an opening day of the Premier League season without getting his name on the scoresheet, a feat he has achieved in all six of his campaigns since his switch from the Italian capital.
Yet despite Salah profiting from taking up a more central position this time around as Alexander-Arnold whipped a wonderful ball into the box, it was his presence alone that pulled defenders Tim Ream and Tosin Adarabioyo out of position. That left Nunez free to bring the ball down and tee up his teammate for the Reds' second equaliser of the afternoon.
Later in the half, there was a further example of Liverpool's attacking versatility as Salah, once more, took up a wide position next to Elliott and Alexander-Arnold - formng a right-sided triangle which had become a key part of their tactical makeup last campaign. The Egyptian and the 19-year-old England youth international dragged three players out wide as they searched for a later winner at Craven Cottage.
Elliott would eventually set the ball back to Jordan Henderson to cannon a fine effort off the top of the crossbar deep into stoppage time, but as Liverpool searched for a winner it was telling that Salah was out wide rather than in the box.
It's still early days of what is hoped to be a long and successful career in Red for Nunez, but already during his two competitive cameos he has demonstrated why he and Salah could be about to form an unpredictable relationship in the final-third as Liverpool enter the latest era of Klopp's tenure.
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