Liverpool's six forwards are flexing their muscles – Arne Slot is spoilt for choice

Anything you can do, I can do better.

The title of a song composed by Irving Berlin for the 1946 Broadway musical Annie Get Your Gun may not be providing inspiration for Arne Slot’s six senior attackers, but it is quickly becoming the motto for Liverpool’s forward line.

Against Bournemouth, in their most Premier League fixture at Anfield on Saturday, Luis Diaz scored twice and Darwin Nunez once in a 3-0 win. Watching from the bench were Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo. Those two were in the starting line-up last night for Liverpool’s 5-1 Carabao Cup third-round victory at home to West Ham United, and both responded with two goals.

Diaz’s double at the weekend was viewed as a response of their own following Gakpo’s impressive performance against AC Milan in the Champions League four days earlier. Nunez, meanwhile, was looking to impress against Bournemouth in his first start of the season after Jota had been first-choice up front to begin the campaign.

Summer signing Federico Chiesa and club talisman Mohamed Salah even traded metaphorical blows against Julen Lopetegui’s Londoners last night. The Italy international marked his full debut with an assist, setting up Jota’s first goal on 25 minutes via an acrobatic shot which turned into a cross. Salah replaced him after an hour and found the net, too.

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Liverpool’s forward line flexed their muscles on the night, with five of the six contributing a goal or an assist. Nunez combined with Gakpo via a neat one-two in the area which led to the first of the Dutch winger’s two late goals.

The only one who did not add to their goal contributions tally for the season was Diaz. Though it would have been very impressive if he had, as he didn’t play a second. The Colombia international had the luxury of putting his feet up and enjoying the action from the bench as the Carabao Cup holders sealed a last-16 trip to Brighton at the end of October.

It is exactly the type of selection headache that Slot would have wanted when he took over from Jurgen Klopp this summer.

Rather than sulk about not being in the team, Nunez and Gakpo have laid down a marker when given their opportunity. That has motivated Jota and Diaz to respond. Salah remains Salah, while Chiesa, the new addition from Juventus, will increase competition further when he is up to speed with English football.

Slot is spoilt for choice. He demonstrated that by tweaking his system last night to more of a 4-2-4, picking four of his six options, with Jota and Nunez operating centrally and Gakpo and Chiesa outside of them.

It was Jota who dropped into the No 10 role frequently but doing so did not diminish his threat. These were his first goals since he got Liverpool’s first of the season in the opening-weekend win at Ipswich Town, but he remains their best finisher when fit. His is the consistency and ruthlessness in front of goal that Nunez has lacked during his two-and-a-bit years on Merseyside.

Jota’s second goal, to put Liverpool 2-1 up shortly after half-time, was assisted by Curtis Jones. His burst into space and delicate pass capped an excellent performance from the academy-graduate midfielder, who faces a battle to break up Liverpool’s current starting midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Gakpo looks like a player reborn in the left-winger role. After rarely featuring there in a season and a half under Klopp, the 25-year-old has carried the form he built up helping the Netherlands to the semi-finals of this summer’s European Championship. His progressive ball-carrying makes him difficult to stop in full flow and there’s a similarity with Diaz in that they are being direct and displaying clarity and composure when in good attacking positions.

Salah continues to set the standards at age 32. He has started the season in excellent form and remains a reliable source of goals and assists.

These players’ form has allowed Slot to ease Chiesa in with little pressure. Just under a month after his move was finalised, supporters finally got to see the 26-year-old involved from the start. Having had no pre-season or significant playing time since Italy’s exit from Euro 2024 on June 29, his first Liverpool start was never likely to be an all-action 90 minutes.

Chiesa impressed on his first Liverpool start (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

It was a quiet opening to the game and Liverpool collectively looked like a side that had made nine changes from the weekend — Chiesa taking on the role of the new kid in class.

That changed when he assisted Jota to make it 1-1 and as the half progressed, Chiesa’s influence grew. Frequently rotating with right-back Conor Bradley to provide width on the right-hand side and moving centrally, he showed he can provide threat from both positions. He became more involved and was progressive in possession. After drifting infield, a burst into the left side of the box was followed by a deft nutmeg on Vladimir Coufal before his cross was cleared. Minutes later, he drove at his full-back on the right, working his way into the penalty area before firing a shot over.

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It was a sneak peek of what is to come from a player who was voted into Serie A’s team of the year for 2020-21 and the all-star XI for Euro 2020, which he helped Italy win. Work is increasing on his understanding of Slot’s system alongside his improving physical condition. What pleased his head coach was his willingness and intensity out of possession.

“It was good to see that he could play 60 minutes because he hasn’t played a lot, maybe hasn’t played hardly any minutes in the last three or four months,” Slot said.

“For him, it is important that, apart from getting more match fitness, he has to have playing minutes. He assisted, although it was a shot on target that provided Diogo for a goal, worked really hard. It is normal he is not already at the top of his ability. He has to get used to the club, his team-mates, the playing style. It was very good to see how match-fit he is, so we can use him if we need him.”

While there were concerns about the depth of Liverpool’s squad in areas during the summer, their attack was not one of them.

Through performances, they are motivating and challenging each other. Slot will be keen for them to maintain the competition — it means the goals will flow.

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(Top photo: Jota, left, and Gakpo scored twice against West Ham; Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)