Liverpool boss Arne Slot has given his backing to Darwin Nunez as the striker searches for goal-scoring form.

The forward missed a couple of good openings in the Champions League win over Girona in midweek and has just three goals from 19 appearances this term.

However, Slot believes Nunez is still contributing to his side.

"For me, he has impact," said Slot. "If you only look at goals, he hasn't scored the amount he wants or we want a No9 to score. But he does have an impact with his work-rate and that's not only for the other team not to create a chance but if we lose the ball he's aggressive that we can get the ball back.

"He's part of a team that scores goals and is winning a lot but of course as a No9 you want to score goals and that's definitely what he wants as well.

"I'm not only judging Mo [Salah] on his goals and I'm not only judging Darwin on his goals, I also judge them on their work-rate and what they bring to the team and that has been positive until now.

"Maybe because the fans support him so much he wants it too much to score that goal for himself and the fans."

Slot added: "It's the life of a No9, sometimes you score, sometimes you don't. But what should always be there is work-rate. That's what he had apart from two games.

"The first game against Las Palmas [in a friendly] 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."