Former Liverpool full-back Jose Enrique says he would rather have Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the Reds side than Darwin Nunez.
Liverpool are set to face Everton at Anfield in the Merseyside derby on Saturday, and Jurgen Klopp will hope that his side can come away with a big win.
The Reds currently sit in fourth place in the Premier League table, and trail league leaders Tottenham and Arsenal by only three points.
As for Everton, they have once again started the season poorly, and are only three points outside the relegation zone.
Sean Dyche’s team have won three of their last four matches, however (including one in the League Cup), and Calvert-Lewin’s recent return to fitness has been key to those victories.
The Toffees face a tough task against Liverpool, but Dyche will hope that his team can produce a shock result.
Ahead of the game, Enrique has been talking about what his ideal Liverpool team would look like. Interestingly, he thinks that Calvert-Lewin would walk into the Red’s starting XI ahead of Nunez, who cost Liverpool £85m in June 2022.
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Enrique prefers ‘excellent’ DCL over Nunez
In an interview with Grosvenor Sport, Enrique claimed that Calvert-Lewin could be a ‘starting number nine for a world-class team.”
“Obviously, Liverpool fans are not going to like hearing this from me, but with both Darwin Nunez and Dominic Calvert-Lewin fully fit, I think I would take Calvert-Lewin,” Enrique said.
“People seem to forget how good Calvert-Lewin is when he’s fully fit – he’s an excellent player. The way I see it – put Darwin Nunez in any world-class teams in the world and I don’t think he’s starts for most of them.
“However, if Calvert-Lewin could keep himself fit, I really believe he could be a starting number nine for a world-class team, that’s the kind of level I see from him.
“Even when Darwin Nunez is scoring goals for Liverpool, I still have my doubts about him as a player under Jurgen Klopp.
“I love him and think he would do well for loads of other teams who play counter-attacking football – he’s outstanding for that – but for a team that presses a lot like Liverpool do, I’m not so sure.”
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see how both Calvert-Lewin and Nunez perform in the Merseyside derby on Saturday.
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