Liverpool have missed Luis Diaz but his comeback was scarcely the game to illustrate that. Their campaign might have been very different had the early-season rival to Alisson for their player-of-the-year award not spent six months on the sidelines. But by the time he returned, three of their forwards had already scored five goals at Elland Road. Within a few minutes of his introduction, another substitute, Darwin Nunez, made it six.
Diaz’s return was lost in a sea of goals. Liverpool had required him in many a match, but not a 6-1 demolition of Leeds. He may have witnessed the peculiar psychology of a team who can score in spurts and hatfuls or not at all, who can inflict thrashings or suffer beatings, who can be sporadically brilliant and yet far too inconsistent. If Jurgen Klopp is supposed to be the motivator supreme, the sight of Diaz may have galvanised Liverpool’s other attackers.
