"Needs time" - Jurgen Klopp suggests star forward won't start against Fulham

Despite scoring in the Community Shield final last Saturday, Darwin Nuñez could be facing another start from the bench ins Liverpool's game against Fulham.

Klopp's side face take on the Championship winners today at Craven Cottage in the Premier League’s first lunchtime kick off of the season.

A hot topic of debate has surrounded Liverpool’s new man Darwin Nuñez who many expect to start after a successful cameo against Manchester City.

The Uruguay international came off the bench against Pep Guardiola’s side and forced Ruben Dias to concede a game changing penalty and grabbed an injury time goal for himself along the way.

But Jürgen Klopp has conceded that there are no guarantees that the striker will be handed his first competitive starting birth for his new club this weekend.

In his pre-match press conference, Klopp declared “Darwin is ready but that doesn’t mean he has to start.”

The German tactician continued “He [Nuñez] needs time to get used to a lot of things” but also admitted the forward “is already a real help.”

The 23-year-old has big shoes to fill at Anfield off the back of Sadio Mané’s surprise exit earlier this transfer window.

Mané was Liverpool’s main centre-forward last season after displacing Roberto Firmino, and he managed to grab himself 23 goals across all competitions.

A period of acclimatisation is widely anticipated to be required for Nuñez during his first few months at on Merseyside, but fans will be hoping he can replicate Mané’s form of last season this term.

But from Nuñez’s perspective, he’ll be raring to go, and thus hopeful that a starting opportunity will present itself to him in today's game.