Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp remains "completely convinced" by Darwin Nunez after the club-record signing was criticised for his performance against Manchester United.
Nunez joined Liverpool from Benfica in a deal potentially worth up to £85million (€100.5m) last month and made his first appearance in Tuesday's 4-0 loss in Bangkok.
The Uruguay international played the final half an hour of the contest and missed a glorious opportunity to open his account for the club when blazing over the bar late on.
That led to many already questioning the big-money signing, with footage of his miss shared widely on social media platforms.
But Klopp has no doubt that Nunez, signed effectively as a replacement for Sadio Mane after he joined Bayern Munich, will have a big impact in Liverpool's star-studded forward line.
"I'm not worried at all," he said at a news conference on Thursday ahead of facing Crystal Palace in Singapore.
"The general judgement [on Nunez] is absolutely nil interest [to us]. It will be like this and we all know it.
"It's kind of a game or a joke for some people to pick out some situations where a player's not doing well. That's only a game from [fans of] other clubs, which is normal.
"Our fans probably do [the same] with signings of Manchester United. We cannot take this seriously."
Nunez scored 48 goals in 85 games for Benfica in all competitions and averaged 1.2 goals every 90 minutes in the Portuguese Primeira Liga last season.
When only factoring in non-penalty goals, Nunez averaged exactly a goal a game in the Portuguese top flight – the best return of any player to have played at least 1,000 minutes across the Primeira Liga, LaLiga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Premier League last season.
He also had the highest conversion rate of all players with 55+ non-penalty shots in the 2021-22 campaign (27.2 per cent).
That explains why Liverpool spent so big to sign the 23-year-old, but Klopp does not want supporters to focus too much on his price tag.
"The only real important thing is how I judge the situation for the player and I couldn't be more calm – completely convinced about his potential," the German said.
"And actually, what our people – all Liverpool supporters in the whole world – should know is that new players need time and get time.
"We should be the first ones to delete the fee we paid [from our thinking]. Just delete it – it's not important.
"It's like this with strikers. He missed a chance and then there are some nervous people going, 'oh my god, he missed a chance' – I can promise you it will not be the last."
Nunez is expected to make his second Liverpool appearance in Friday's friendly with fellow Premier League side Palace.
Klopp added: "We do absolutely everything to not only see the things we saw from him at Benfica – from there, we go [further].
"Again, it is my responsibility to help Darwin fulfil his full potential and I'm completely calm. I think, with half a football brain, you don't doubt the potential of Darwin Nunez."
Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Leipzig: Visitors fightback halts unbeaten streak for Alonso's side
Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first defeat in 36 Bundesliga matches, as Leipzig came from behind to stun Xabi Alonso's side 3-2 at BayArena.
Lois Openda struck twice for Marco Rose's, who recovered from 2-0 down to make it two wins from two and move to the summit of the table.
It looked like business as usual for the reigning Bundesliga champions when they scored twice in the last seven minutes of the first half through Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo.
However, Leipzig replied deep into first-half stoppage time with Kevin Kampl reducing the deficit.
Openda then brought the visitors level in the 57th minute, before a stunning long-range strike completed the turnaround 10 minutes from time, condemning Leverkusen to their first league defeat in 15 months.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen's long streak comes to a shuddering halt
Leipzig became the first side to beat Leverkusen in a Bundesliga match since Bochum achieved the feat a staggering 462 days earlier.
The visitors have begun a Bundesliga season with two wins from two for only the second time, also doing so in 2019-20.
They are also now unbeaten in 13 league matches, their longest such streak since Rose took charge.
As for Leverkusen, their invincible streak is officially history, as is their 29-game unbeaten run on home soil.
'We really let ourselves down' - Coleman slams Everton after late Bournemouth collapse
Seamus Coleman acknowledged Everton "really let ourselves down" and must "look at ourselves in the mirror" following their spectacular late collapse against Bournemouth.
Sean Dyche's side, who were seeking their first points of the season, led 2-0 in the 87th minute at Goodison Park through goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
However, the hosts were undone by three crosses in the latter stages, with Antoine Semenyo pulling a goal back and Lewis Cook levelling, before Luis Sinisterra completed a sensational turnaround in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Boos rung around Goodison Park as the Toffees remained pointless and rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, and Coleman echoed the supporters' frustrations.
"We really let ourselves down in front of our fans," the skipper said. "We cannot take our foot off the gas at this level. Unfortunately, we did that.
"We cannot be conceding the goals that we did. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror."
Meanwhile, Dyche bemoaned the lack of responsibility amongst his players, as they became the first side in Premier League history to lose a game after leading by two or more goals in the 87th minute.
"We did so much right until they scored their first goal," the Everton head coach said. "The game should have been out of sight. We conceded one and then threw it away. I can't put my finger on it right now.
"They kept raining it forward and got their reward in the end. They were playing it forward and crossing it into the box, and we didn't deal with it. Simple stuff, but we threw it away. It is the third game we have thrown away this season.
"Everyone was looking at someone else to deal with things and that is when there is trouble. You could see the body language change. You have to see games through, and we have enough experience to do that, but today we didn't."
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola added: "It was the worst game we played this season. Everton deserved to win today, but the players kept pushing.
"I always have hope because this team has spirit. We have done it before and had some good comebacks. The spark of the first goal made us believe we could do it again."
Nottingham Forest 1-1 Wolves: Bellegarde beauty earns visitors first point
Wolves earned their first point of the Premier League season following a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Chris Wood's towering header was cancelled out by Jean-Ricner Bellegarde's stunning strike as the spoils were shared at the City Ground.
The hosts took the lead in the 10th minute as Wood rose to nod home from Elliot Anderson's corner.
However, the visitors were level just two minutes later in spectacular fashion, with Bellegarde firing a stunning long-range volley into the roof of the net.
Gary O'Neil's side had Sam Johnstone to thank after the break, with the debutant producing a strong hand to deny Wood his second goal of the game.
Matheus Cunha curled a shot just wide while the offside flag denied Wood later on, with Forest unable to snatch victory but extending their unbeaten start to the campaign.
Data Debrief: Wolves end losing streak while Wood matches Collymore
After opening the season with two defeats and eight goals conceded, Wolves stopped the rot with a welcome point against their Midlands rivals, while ending a five-game Premier League losing streak in the process.
Meanwhile, Forest remain unbeaten in their opening three games of a top-flight season for the first time since 1995-96.
Heading his side into the lead, Wood became only the second Forest player to score in both their first two home matches in a Premier League season since Stan Collymore 30 years previously.
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