Richard Buxton: Firmino is the unsung hero of Liverpool, Latest football news



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Mohamed Salah remains the alpha male of Liverpool's strike force.

Nobody will be able to overthrow the Egyptian – he is # 1, so why try harder?

But behind the power of Anfield's throne, an even greater force is at work.

Roberto Firmino turns out to be the personal ark of the Red Alliance.

Just like in the Indiana Jones movie franchise, no matter how hard you try to defeat opponents, they can not bring themselves to turn their gaze away from the attacker's brilliant smile that inflicts maximum damage.

GROUP C
PARIS ST GERMAIN LIVERPOOL

Before the meeting of the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain tomorrow morning (Singapore time), questions remain as to whether a Brazilian talisman can play on the biggest stage.

How Parisians should they wish Neymar to produce an ounce of what his fellow countryman offers to the team of Juergen Klopp.

They also have the experience. A hard-fought point was within their range in the first match of Group C in September, before Firmino produced a hammer in stoppage time.

Firmino knows that Kop's front line is not big enough for Salah and Sadio Mane to fight.

Only one will eventually take away and merit the unconditional worship that follows.

His selflessness even allowed Salah to briefly exceed EPL's record of 38 goals for Liverpool in last weekend's comfortable win against Watford.

That the 27-year-old has not looted more, despite a two-year lead, tells his own story.

Leaders, especially those like Klopp, now want their attackers to be more than an archetypal outlet for their goals.

This should be associated with more generous attributes for the entire team than their own personal conversion rates.

In this respect, Firmino fulfills its mandate.

He's not the first Liverpool player to take on an underrated role in this grandiose project.

Playing second or even third in the case of Firmino has proven benefits in the past.

Fernando Torres took advantage of his most prolific spell by playing Steven Gerrard's shoulder.

History remembers much more of the contribution of the former captain than that of a player whose defection against Chelsea broke both the heart and the illusions on the terraces of Anfield. .

However, where Gerrard advanced positionally, the role of Firmino is reversed.

The previous totem of Liverpool did not always receive the credit due during his days of play.

If the goals were not to rain during a rescue mission by one man, his influence was often neglected.

Firmino could be forgiven for asking if a similar pattern is emerging, after paving the way for the combination of Salah and Mane while the former opened the mark at Vicarage Road.

A consistent agreement had been reached since the first three games of the new campaign.

Four months later, Liverpool's three men seem to have rediscovered the mojo they had missed in consecutive away games in the Champions League.

Klopp deserves praise for another unorthodox tactical turn. He achieved similar results by deploying James Milner to the left-back, at a time when successors were coming.

The German coach said that about twenty of his compatriots and fellow coaches had touted Firmino's performance in his new role against Fulham before the international break.

If it was to inspire Liverpool a memorable night in the French capital, an orderly queue of admirers would form again.

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