Gary Neville believes Darwin Nunez's double versus Newcastle United could give the striker lift-off in his Liverpool career.
Nunez endured a mixed first season at Anfield following his transfer from Benfica
Nunez will now hope this can be the performance that sees him earn a run of starts in the side
Neville is of the view he could well be on his way to doing just that after his statement showing.
Neville
"They were brilliant finishes. If ever a player needed it, it was him,"
"We talk about Jackson at Chelsea on Friday night needing a goal, and no doubt he did, but this lad has beenh signed for huge money and there is a different level of expectation because of the money he has been signed for.
"Jamie Carragher and I had a conversation on Monday Night Football last season about whether this guy would come good and we both felt he would because of some of the similar things you see with Jackson in that he runs the channels, is a massive handful and you would hate to play against him.
"He can be a little bit scruffy, snatch at shots in and around the box and just doesn't look like he composes himself.
"We always say about strikers in the box, the ones that are ice-cold, to be able to look like the game is really slow even though it is really fast - he doesn't have that.
"He has that frantic element to him, that you almost feel his mind is really quick and that is not a good thing for a striker.
"But, today, he composed himself. He had one chance before the two goals that was symptomatic of how he has been at Liverpool.
"But when he got that chance eventually, and the second one, that's what you have to do to be a top striker. Are you going to score goals in the big moments? That was a huge, huge moment for Liverpool."
Neville continued
"If he can come good, I would rather play against Gakpo and Jota - and they're both very good players - than Darwin Nunez,"
"He would frighten me to death running off my shoulder, the speed of him and the way in which he always moves.
"If he can't finish, you don't have that punch to knock your opponents out. If he adds the punch like he has today, he becomes a really interesting player for Liverpool. Ultimately, he's [Jurgen Klopp] going to have to try and get him in at some point."
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