Roberto Firmino remains an important part of Liverpool’s plans, but former Reds striker John Aldridge has pointed out that “being a centre-forward he has to score goals”.
That has been an issue for the Brazil international at times this season, although he was back on target during Liverpool’s latest Premier League outing, with a priceless winner recorded late on against Crystal Palace.
However, that was Firmino’s first effort in 10 appearances across all competitions and only his fourth of the 2019-20 campaign.
Aldridge hopes the floodgates will have been thrown open at Selhurst Park, with the former Reds front-man looking for a hard-working forward to offer greater cutting edge.
He told the Liverpool Echo: “It was great to see Roberto Firmino end a run of seven league games without a goal. He has a lot of aspects to his game and he's not a 'goalscoring striker' but being a centre-forward he has to score goals.
“I know what it's like as a striker when you lose your confidence in front of goal and you need a bit of luck to get it back.
"I think after Saturday that will have done him the world of good and we will start to see more goals from Bobby in the coming weeks.”
Aldridge is also looking for Liverpool to raise their game as a collective, despite being eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had to dig deep again away at Palace, which is considered to be a good sign, while the Reds also saw another game pass them by without securing a clean sheet.
Aldridge added: “I think quite a lot of the wins, Sheffield United, Saturday and Aston Villa have been pretty much the same. We haven't played as well as we can but we've won the three games.
“If anything, it's a good sign because when we do play well someone is going to get it. We probably played better last year, scored more goals and conceded less but we've won more games. That's what matters at the end of the day.
“I don't know whether the lack of clean sheets is becoming a psychological thing. I think the manager, the defenders and the goalkeeper won't be happy because it's like a goalscorer, you're only happy when you're scoring because it gives you pride in your performance and getting clean sheets shows that you're doing your job.
“Unfortunately we're not getting the clean sheets but we're getting the wins. The manager will know that you can't keep having to score two goals to win games and get over the line.”
Liverpool’s attention is turning to Champions League matters, as they prepare to play host to Napoli on Wednesday, with their next domestic outings set to see them entertain Brighton and Merseyside rivals Everton.