'When you see potential, stay calm' - Klopp points to Lewandowski to allay Nunez concerns

Jurgen Klopp hopes people will 'stay calm' about Darwin Nunez's mixed start to Liverpool and pointed to former player Robert Lewandowski as a reason to remain confident.

Nunez joined Liverpool in June for what could eventually reach a club-record £85million, but the Uruguay international suffered an inconsistent opening in his career with the Reds.

Liverpool secured a third straight league win at Aston Villa on Monday, although Nunez failed to convert any of his big four chances despite registering 1.15 xG (expected goals).

The striker was criticized after the game for his finishing, but Klopp urged people to stay behind the 23-year-old and cited Lewandowski's poor start to Borussia Dortmund as an example of how players can improve.

After signing for Klopp's Dortmund side from Lech Poznan ahead of the 2010-11 campaign, Lewandowski scored just eight times in 38 Bundesliga appearances.

However, he went on to score 102 goals in 184 games under Klopp, helping them win two Bundesliga titles and the 2012-13 Champions League final before leaving for Bayern Munich in 2014.

Klopp thinks Liverpool fans should keep faith in Nunez, in the hope that he will flourish as Lewandowski did.

"If you could just go back to that time, [I was] sitting in press conferences and reporters really, when I started playing Lewandowski they asked me 'why [Lucas ] Barrios not playing? ", Klopp told reporters. .

"Lucas Barrios had scored 16 goals this season and was number nine in our team, so Lewy started playing in different positions to adapt to different things, he didn't like that too much.

"Polish journalists weren't too friendly with me because he didn't play nine, he played in a 4-2-3-1 like a 10, I thought at the time it was totally logical to develop his game... there are a lot of similarities [with Nunez] to be honest.

"Lewy was telling the same story, we had shoots where he didn't finish one.

"We always bet for 10 euros, if you score more than 10 times, I pay you, if you don't pay me, I had a pocket full of money.

"It's about staying calm, when you see the potential, stay calm. It's so hard in the world we live in.

"I think we all agree that [Nunez's] potential is so obvious.

"It's not just with Lewy that I've had this but it's an obvious comparison, I understand that. It's just about staying calm, and I'm super calm, and so is the team by the way."

While Klopp admitted Nunez should have done better with a particular chance against Villa, he also feels the media scrutiny has been overdone.

"Is everything okay? No," he said. free choice.

"But everything is coming. So you do it like that, the next time you do it like that.

"It's so difficult in the world we live in. I don't want to make it personal now, but because of you [the media] asking and making a fuss, so of course the fans and social media [get carried away].

"All that stuff, the more you can stop it, the better."