'I don't just judge him on his goals' - Slot defends Nunez

Liverpool signed Darwin Nunez from Benfica in summer 2022 for an initial fee of £64m and possibly rising to £85m with add-ons

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has defended Darwin Nunez by highlighting his all-round impact in the midst of his goal struggles.

The Uruguay forward, 25, has scored just three times in 19 club appearances this season and failed to take a number of chances during Tuesday's 1-0 Champions League win against Girona.

"For me, he has impact," said Slot before his Premier League leaders host Fulham on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

"If you only look at goals, he hasn't scored the amount of goals that he wants to score, or we want a number nine to score, but he does have impact in his work-rate. He's part of a team that scores a lot of goals and is winning a lot.

"Of course, as a number nine you want to score more goals and that's definitely what he wants as well. But I'm not only judging Mohamed Salah on his goals and Darwin on his goals - I also judge them on their work-rate and what they bring to the team.

"The fans support him so much that maybe he wants it too much."

Slot took Nunez off after 71 minutes against Girona and believes the impact of missing chances affected the forward in that game.

Nunez, appearing to respond to some criticism about his performance, posted afterwards on Instagram: "They are not all, they are some. Thank you Reds for your support, we are all still together."

In another post, he wrote "Resiliencia", which is Spanish for resilience.

Slot added: "I made it clear to him that he's not only judged on the goals he scores but the team performance.

"Ideally, he scores a few goals more. It is the life of a number nine - sometimes you score, sometimes you don't - but what should always be there is the work-rate.

"That's what he had apart from two games - the first one against Las Palmas [in pre-season] and the last half hour against Girona wasn't of the standards he should have and that had a lot to do with him being disappointed after missing a few chances."

Slot could have forwards Diogo Jota and Federico Chiesa back against Fulham.

Portugal forward Jota has been out with a chest injury since 20 October, while Chiesa has struggled for fitness since his summer move from Juventus.

Are Chelsea title contenders?

Liverpool go into the Fulham game with a four-point lead over second-placed Chelsea, and with a game in hand after last Saturday's match at neighbours Everton was postponed because of adverse weather conditions.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has played down his side's ability to challenge for the title but Slot has been impressed by the Blues this season - citing their display when Liverpool beat them 2-1 at Anfield in the league in October.

"It was one of the games, maybe the only game, where I felt the other team was better than us during that game," said Slot.

"That's not to say for the long term they are better than us, but during the game they had more ball possession than us and were threatening us more than any other team until now.

"I'm not there to judge which position they will end in the league table. I have to focus on my own team but Chelsea have been impressive this season so far, that's for sure."

Slot and Salah win Premier League awards

Slot has been named the Premier League manager of the month for November, while forward Mohamed Salah has won the player award.

Liverpool beat Brighton, Aston Villa and Southampton during the month to stay top of the table and earn Slot the managerial award for the first time.

Salah scored four goals in November and wins the player award for a sixth occasion.