Another game, another assist for the brilliant Brazilian at Liverpool and this time no one is talking about Philippe Coutinho. Roberto Firmino is the new star at Anfield and he capped off another great performance in the Europa League with a goal against Manchester United.
The former Hoffenheim attacker had a slow start to his Anfield career but he has woken up in the second half of the season and well seems to be firing on all cylinders. His recent run of goals has seen him being compared to Luis Suarez at Liverpool but is he really that good when compared to Suarez’s first season?
A slow start for Suarez as well
Suarez joined Liverpool in the 2011 January transfer window and had a bit of a slow going but eventually found his feet, Firmino himself had a slow first half of the season but now seems to be on track to emulate his fellow South American.
In an interesting comparison between the two stars, both players joined Liverpool when they were 24 and slowly got better. Firmino has scored eight goals since the start of the year and seems to be getting better as the games go by and he picks up more playing time under Jurgen Klopp, who does deserve a lot of praise for getting the best out of Firmino.
In a tweet doing the rounds, it is seen that Firmino actually has a better scoring record than Suarez during their first year at Anfield with the Brazilian 0.56 goals per 90 minutes while Suarez only chipped in with 0.33 goals per 90 minutes.
In the assists column, Firmino just shades past Suarez with 0.28 assists per 90 compared to the current Barcelona striker’s 0.25.
The only problem with Firmino seems to be his shot accuracy with is a little low compared to Suarez’s but that is not a problem or should not be a problem since the Brazilian is getting better as the season is going by.
Certainly no one would have expected this kind of a turnaround in his career at Anfield with many questioning the 29 million pounds that Liverpool shelled out for the Bundesliga star. Firmino though has let his football do the talking and most are now just enjoying how well Firmino has done for Liverpool.
A change in position which has seen him spend more time at the tip of the attack could be the reason why Firmino’s stats have improved this season and who knows just what he might be able to achieve next season if he continues like this, Liverpool fans will be hoping he can become their next Luis Suarez.