‘I don’t care’ – Carragher tells Liverpool star ‘has to play’ over man who’s done ‘nowhere near enough’

Jamie Carragher has told Liverpool that Darwin Nunez “has to play” no matter how many chances he misses, and Cody Gakpo has “had flashes but nowhere near enough.”

The Reds have had to transition away from having the excellence of Roberto Firmino up top of late. The striker – who bagged 111 goals for the club – left in the summer, meaning Jurgen Klopp has had to use other options.

It seems he’s yet to identify who his best central striker is. Nunez and Gakpo – both of whom have joined the club within the past two years – have both led the line this season, as has the currently injured Diogo Jota.

Of his 17 league appearances this season, Nunez has started 10. However, he hasn’t found the net in the last eight in the league, and Gakpo was preferred to him against Arsenal.

He’s similarly struggled in front of goal, scoring just twice in the league in 16 appearances this season. Liverpool legend Carragher does not feel the forward has shown enough during his time at the club to warrant the minutes he’s getting.

“Gakpo has been here now close to 12 months and he’s had flashes but nowhere near enough,” he said on The Gary Neville Podcast.

Instead of playing Gakpo up top, Carragher is unequivocal in his view that the Reds need to persevere with Nunez, who must be a part of the side.

“I don’t care how many chances Nunez misses, he has to play in this team!” Carragher said on X.

Indeed, Nunez is a frustrating forward in that he does miss a lot of chances, and he’s not shown his quality in front of goal all too much this term.

That said, he scored 26 goals in Liga Portugal for Benfica the season before he was snapped up by Liverpool for £85million.

There’s clearly a quality player in there, and when he gets into his groove, he could be devastating to play against. Flashes of that have been evident so far at Anfield, and if they stick with him, he could show that.

However, Carragher also made the point that Gakpo has shown flashes, and there are certainly parallels between him and Nunez, so it seems hard for Klopp to know who his best option is.

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