There are several names in this Liverpool team that will be familiar to Rangers fans, but in Darwin Nunez the Anfield club have a striker the Ibrox team are more than acquainted with.
The Uruguayan forward, 23, was turning out for Benfica back in 2020 and was a revelation for the Portuguese side as he came off the bench to rescue a point for his side against Rangers in the Estadio de Luz.
Rangers were around 20 minutes away from a historic Europa League victory in the famous stadium after going 3-1 up against 10 men but Darwin Nunez had other ideas.
Nunez’s introduction startled Rangers as his pace and power caused no end of problems to a shaky defence who perhaps let the gravity of the situation get to them in the final moments of the game.
The striker held off Filip Helander to tee up Rafa Mir to bring it back to 3-2 before Darwin Nunez scored the equaliser in injury time.
Nunez split both Helander and Connor Goldson with an expert run and showed his class and composure to fire low past Allan McGregor.
Will Liverpool start Darwin Nunez v Rangers?
It was moments like this that convinced Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp to splash out a club-record £85m in the summer to sign the striker but since arriving at Anfield, things haven’t gone completely as planned.
As eyes are glancing over at Man City and a rampant Erling Haaland – who now has three hattricks in eight Premier League games – Darwin Nunez finds himself sidelined for Liverpool
After a stupid red card against Crystal Palace earlier in the Premier League season, the forward served a three-match ban and since then has struggled to break back into the side.
But having come off the bench in the weekend’s 3-3 draw with Brighton, Nunez has also been involved from the bench in Liverpool’s Champions League clashes with Napoli and Ajax.
Roberto Firmino’s double at the weekend might suggest that the ex-Almeria striker will be primed for a place on the bench when Rangers visit this week but it’s a hard one to call.
Doubts surround a starting berth but it is from the bench that Rangers experienced the most damage from a player of real talent who is just waiting to kickstart his career in England.
Conversely, as the striker looks to do just that, perhaps the match with Rangers represents the perfect opportunity to phase Nunez back into the side.
If that is the case Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his charges will be hoping that against a familiar foe in Rangers, Darwin Nunez doesn’t decide to properly announce himself south of the border.
Meanwhile, an £18m Belgian winger has shown Rangers the route to Liverpool glory in the Champions League.
