Daniel Sturridge has heaped praise on Darwin Nunez after his ‘magnificent’ performance against Fulham helped Liverpool reach the Carabao Cup final.
A 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night was enough for Liverpool to seal a 3-2 aggregate win over Fulham and set up a tantalising final against Chelsea.
Luis Diaz scored the crucial goal for the Reds, but it was Nunez who yet again caught the eye, with the Uruguayan now seemingly a key player in Jurgen Klopp’s side – even if his stats aren’t mind-blowing.
The forward has scored 10 and assisted 10 in 32 appearances so far this season – which is more goal contributions than he managed in the entirety of the last campaign – but he is still culpable of missing big chances.
Nevertheless, former Liverpool forward Sturridge likes what he sees, telling Sky Sports: ‘I think Nunez for me is a magnificent player
‘People obsess about stats and not scoring but for me he is a player who is slowly but surely getting to the level we all know he was capable of.
‘Tonight he was a constant threat. He played well tonight.’
Nunez, who brilliantly assisted both goals in the semi-final first-leg at Anfield, has been under huge scrutiny since signing from Benfica in 2022 for an initial £64million, but now appears to have found his groove.
Klopp certainly thinks so, showering the 24-year-old with praise in his post-match press conference, saying: ‘I liked Darwin’s performance a lot today as well, to be honest.
‘He was maybe not involved in these kind of finish situations, but to defend him is a nightmare, to be honest. He was everywhere, he kept the ball and all these kind of things.
‘The boys bring us that, we can use from time to time. It was just a good game, a good cup game.
‘Whoever expected tonight that we just show quality and we get through and this will be a walk in the park doesn’t understand the game and doesn’t understand the importance of the occasion. Both teams wanted to go to Wembley – and we qualified and that’s all we could wish for.’
The Carabao Cup final takes place on February 25th, but Liverpool have little time to celebrate reaching it as attention turns to their FA Cup fourth-round clash against Norwich on Sunday.
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