Lionel Messi has lauded Liverpool striker Darwin Nez, naming him one of Jürgen Klopp’s most potent weapons at Anfield, alongside Mohamed Salah.

On Friday night, as Uruguay faced Argentina in a World Cup qualifier, Liverpool attacker Darwin Nez squared off against Reds midfielder Alexis Mac Allister. The defending world champion was on a 14-match winning streak dating back to the tournament’s second game in Qatar, but it went behind early on thanks to a goal by Barcelona defender Ronald Arajo.

While the hosts dominated the ball, they couldn’t find an equalizer, and in the 87th minute, Nicolás De La Cruz set Nez through on goal, with the Liverpool man speeding away from last defender Nicolás Otamendi before coolly slotting the ball underneath goalkeeper Emi Martnez. Argentina’s record-breaking run has come to an end.

After the game, Lionel Messi, the newly minted Ballon D’Or winner, singled out Nez for praise, claiming that he had made Marcelo Bielsa’s gameplan work. “Uruguay is good at rebounding and playing in space on the counterattack,” he said, according to DaveOCKOP. “They have excellent players for that like Darwin.”

Nez has established himself as a threat on the counter since joining Liverpool in the summer of 2022. Last season, he placed second in the Premier League, only behind teammate Mohamed Salah, for shoots at the end of counterattacks per 90 minutes (minimum 1,000 played), with 0.4, while this season, he ranks second (minimum 500 minutes) with 0.5, after Wolves’ Matheus Cunha. Salah is still up there, just two ranks down at 0.4, and he leads the league in counter-attack goals (three).

They are providing Jürgen Klopp with one of his most potent weapons. Liverpool is fourth in the Premier League in terms of opportunities generated from counter-attacks, with more than any other team in the top four and all but one in the top 12. Only Wolves (14), Everton (13), and Aston Villa (all 13) are capable of defeating them.

Liverpool leads the way in counterattacking goals, having risen from the bottom of the league to the top with four in the last five games. Salah has scored 75% of them, and Nez has assisted 75% of them, demonstrating that they truly are a devastating tag duo.

Mac Allister won the ball on the halfway line against Brighton and immediately passed it to Dominik Szoboszlai, who found Luis Daz in the final third. Daz then passed it to Nez, who passed it to Salah, who sidefooted it home.

from the international break, Mac Allister restarted the attack by threading a pass to Nez from a stoppage-time Toffees corner, and the number nine sprinted two-thirds of the length of the pitch before teeing up Salah for an easy finish.

A week later, Liverpool scored a counterattacking double against Nottingham Forest, with Mac Allister (the initiator for the third time) releasing Salah after a tackle midway through his own half to create a three-on-two scenario. Salah supplied Nez, whose early effort was delightfully deflected for Diogo Jota to score.

Later, after a Forest long throw was cleared, Szoboszlai sent it downfield, and Salah was able to sidefoot the ball into an unguarded net thanks to a disastrous mix-up between Harry Toffolo and goalkeeper Matt Turner.

The Reds were second only to Manchester United in counterattacking goals last season (seven vs. nine), but they’re already more than halfway to matching that number, and with the squad they have, they look like they could comfortably capture first place. Messi, then, is dead on, recognizing not only one of Uruguay’s most valuable assets, but also one of Liverpool’s.