Liverpool's Roberto Firmino has come under fire this week.

There has been plenty of positivity surrounding the Premier League champions recently, but if there's anybody feeling a little more uncomfortable than usual at Anfield it's surely the Brazilian.

Firmino's place in the starting XI on Merseyside has barely been up for debate since the day he was procured by then-manager Brendan Rodgers over half a decade ago.

Firmino's key role at Liverpool

And if anything, Firmino has cemented his status as one of Liverpool's most important players even more across the past three seasons with the establishment of the club's formidable front three.

It's hard to imagine a world where the Reds would possibly have won the Champions League and Premier League without the deadly trio of Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

Nevertheless, Firmino has never been too far away from debate amongst fans, particularly because his goal-scoring record has tended to look sub-part for a number nine of his stature.

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Is Firmino rightly being criticised?

Firmino's most prolific season in the famous red jersey actually came in 2017/18 when he notched 27 strikes, but his total dipped as low as just 11 during the previous campaign.

Naturally, Kopites have come to his defence by reiterating how Firmino's primary outlet isn't scoring goals, rather playing as a 'false nine', defending from the front and creating space for Mane and Salah.

But now that Diogo Jota has burst onto the scene this season, scoring seven goals to surpass Firmino's 2020 tally already, even some of the Brazilian's loyalist fans are starting to think twice.

Besides, at what point does Firmino, for all his incredible attributes in Jurgen Klopp's system, simply need to be scoring more goals? 

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Twitter thread defends Firmino

Well, amid all the negativity surrounding Firmino, we thought it was only fair we offered the counterargument and gave everybody a polite reminder about the 29-year-old's quality.

And there could hardly be a better way to give everybody a refresh than a fantastic Twitter thread from user @RhysMoor in September that made a mockery of claims Firmino is overrated.

From his underrated Champions League contributions and a knack for scoring important goals, be sure to check out the thread down below to see why Klopp is continuing to keep the faith:

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GIVEMESPORT's Kobe Tong says

I'm not going to sit here and pretend that Firmino scoring nine league goals in a season is good enough because it's not.

Don't get me wrong, it's not as damning as some people make out, because lest we forget he made 38 appearances out of a possible 38 for the second greatest Premier League champions ever.

However, let's not allow the Firmino bashing to border on hyperbole because the guy has reinvented what it means to be a modern-day number nine and it works so uniquely well for Klopp's system.

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And as much as Jota is starting to prove that he's probably a better goal-scoring option, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's the most conducive player to feature alongside Salah and Mane.

From where I'm sitting, the ideal scenario here is Jota's form giving Firmino a kick up the backside because what he needs to do is raise his scoring record to, let's say, 15 goals per season and then they'll be no denying who should start.