If anyone expected a conservative approach from Jürgen Klopp as he looked to mastermind a third Liverpool win in the space of a week, the team he named against Brentford appeared to confound that. Handing Darwin Núñez a second consecutive start, having left him on the periphery in recent weeks, the manager named four attackers against one of the league’s surprise European contenders.

In the end, Liverpool secured the victory, more or less ending the Bees’ hopes of getting into Europe — and more importantly, keeping Klopp’s dream of sneaking back into the Champions League alive, a mission that will be taken up on Monday against Leicester City. But the win came by a slender one-goal margin, the fifth such triumph in a row, with Núñez as the spearhead of a four-pronged attack not necessarily yielding the anticipated results.

That might be because it was not really a front four in practice, with Cody Gakpo taking up a fascinating role. We wrote after the game that the January signing effectively operated as the right-sided number eight, showcasing both his versatility and the attack-minded nature of that position in Klopp’s new system.

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While it may have worked, this was clearly a compromise from Klopp, who now has to leave at least one elite forward on the bench every week. Even shoehorning Núñez in by moving Gakpo deeper, the Liverpool boss still named the returning Luis Díaz among the substitutes.

Once the Colombian hits full match sharpness, the dilemma will be even greater. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing for Liverpool, with each forward needing to earn their place every time they step out onto the pitch. Ahead of the game against Leicester, one of the immediate questions is whether Núñez has done that.

After all, while Gakpo performed well as an auxiliary midfielder, he has been one of the highlights of the season as the Roberto Firmino replacement in a false nine role. Likewise, with Klopp set to strengthen the center of the park in the summer, he is unlikely to turn to the man signed as a left-winger less than six months ago as his long-term solution in that department.

Jürgen Klopp must decide whether to play Darwin Núñez for Liverpool against Leicester City.

(Image: Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Liverpool will not be looking unduly far into the future just yet, with all the focus on trying to steal away a Champions League place. It’s out of Klopp’s hands, but winning the last three fixtures would pile on the pressure. So the question that must be asked, starting with the Leicester game, is whether fielding Núñez gives the optimal chance of doing that.

With Leicester having been porous all season, perhaps Klopp will be tempted to use the same compromise again. More vulnerable in transition than some typical ‘deep block’ struggling sides, a Liverpool team packed full of pacey attackers could do some serious damage.

That will place some more onus on the other midfielders to cover for Gakpo, but Curtis Jones proved against Brentford he is up to the challenge. Indeed, Klopp has fielded him as a number six in the past. Behind that pair, Fabinho has enjoyed something of a revival, and in any case has no obvious deputy.

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Moving further back, the defense also more or less picks itself. On the right, Trent Alexander-Arnold will be needed for his defensive role as much as anything else, tucking in alongside Fabinho to stop Leicester doing damage in transitions of its own. The first choice central pairing is now cemented as Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté, while Andy Robertson is the starting left-back. In goal, Alisson is the best in the world, meaning his place is never under any real question.

That would make it an unchanged side from the Brentford win. And with Liverpool having benefited from more than a week off, this would make sense from Klopp, with the remaining schedule effectively allowing him to pick each team purely on its merits.

Predicted line-up: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Gakpo, Jones; Salah, Núñez, Jota.

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