Liverpool attacker Xherdan Shaqiri hopes Roberto Firmino can build on his “fully deserved” hat-trick against Arsenal in the Premier League.
Firmino has struggled for goals this season but took his tally to seven in the league with a treble in the 5-1 victory at Anfield on Saturday.
The Brazil international helped the league leaders come from behind after Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ opener and completed his hat-trick when Mohamed Salah – who added to Sadio Mane’s goal to extend Liverpool’s lead – allowed him to take a second-half penalty.
Shaqiri was happy for Firmino and he hopes it leads to a big second half of the season for the 27-year-old.
“It was fully deserved. He had a very good game,” Shaqiri told the club’s website.
“It’s always good to have people who can score in the team, he scored the second one very nicely. He fully deserved to score a hat-trick and I’m happy for him. I hope he can keep going like this.
“It was a top game; obviously Arsenal have their quality and you can see that with the first goal they scored.
“It was a little wake-up call for us, we were straight on after we conceded and scored for 1-1 – that was the big point for us to change the game and to win in the end.”
Liverpool are nine points clear at the top and next face Manchester City in a blockbuster clash on Thursday.