Assessing Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton, Jurgen Klopp noted that the addition of Mateus Nunez to the home team’s midfield made it “twice as difficult”.
Liverpool showed a much better performance by booking their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Tuesday night, and Harvey Elliott’s goal was decisive.
In the first match, when the Wolves team struggled with a strong rotation, a mixture of minor players and youth dominated most of the game.
Nevertheless, the Wolves were not left without chances, owning the ball more often (58%) and striking 11 shots on goal against Liverpool’s seven with an expected goal score of 1.53–0.16.
And at his post-match press conference, Klopp noted the influence of both Nunes and another player associated with the Reds, Ruben Neves, on the changing landscape of the game.
“It’s important not to get carried away in such a game,” he explained.
“Because they performed well, yes, [but] we went down a little deeper, I didn’t like it too much, the wolves got up a little.
“When there is Neves in the game, everything changes very much, and when Nunez also appears on the field, everything becomes twice as difficult.
“We performed really well. We changed, we just had to be serious and reasonable that we really do it at the right moments.”
Naturally, there is little to read in Klopp’s few words about the 24-year-old, but given Liverpool’s well-known interest in Nunes, it is certainly interesting.
The club negotiated with the Portuguese last summer, but the deal fell through, and instead a commitment was made to return for him in 2023.
Joining Wolves after he has already played twice for Sporting this season, FIFA rules do not allow Nunes to play for a third club in the current campaign.
So it will be a transfer for the summer and Klopp is clearly a fan of the dynamic midfielder, who is likely to move for around £44 million.
