Liverpool flop bought for £12m is now outscoring Nunez in PL

Did Liverpool look nervy towards Wolverhampton Wanderers final weekend, or had been Arne Slot‘s aspect merely enduring a disjointed efficiency?

Let’s not overlook that Liverpool nonetheless bought the job achieved, beat the Previous Gold to leap again right into a seven-point lead on the high of the Premier League.

It was a match that known as for assist from the bench, with Wataru Endo being named the Man of the Match and Conor Bradley including vitality instead of Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back.

Nevertheless, Darwin Nunez had no such luck at quantity 9.

Darwin Nunez’s performances

Nunez, 25, has been one in all Liverpool’s most distinguished figures over the previous a number of years however he was linked with a switch to the Saudi Professional League in January after little signal of progress since arriving from Benfica.

The Uruguay worldwide is tenacious and multi-faceted, however he is additionally wasteful and uncommanding as a focal frontman, solely scoring six targets throughout 34 matches for Slot this season.

Towards Wolves, Nunez didn’t take a shot, make a key go and even try a dribble throughout his 26 minutes of motion plus stoppage time, as per Sofascore. Furthermore, he misplaced each of his floor duels and accomplished solely half of his eight tried passes.

See the desk under. The South American is working out of corners to show.

Darwin Nunez – Premier League Profession
Match Stats*	22/23	23/24	24/25
Matches (begins)	29 (19)	36 (22)	20 (7)
Targets	9	11	4
Assists	3	8	2
Photographs (on course)*	2.9 (1.3)	3.0 (1.3)	1.3 (0.5)
Large possibilities missed	20	27	3
Large possibilities created	11	11	3
Key passes*	1.0	0.9	0.4
Dribble (success)*	0.6 (44%)	0.4 (43%)	0.4 (44%)
Complete duels (received)	2.8 (38%)	2.4 (38%)	2.6 (39%)
Stats by way of Sofascore

The problem is that he hasn’t improved, with the ossification of his talent set main many rivals to take a look at the reported £85m price ticket with derision.

4 targets merely is not adequate for Liverpool’s club-record ahead, not least as a result of he is being outscored within the Premier League by a former Reds prospect in Harry Wilson.

How Harry Wilson’s doing for Fulham

Fulham signed Wilson for a £12m price in July 2021, a product of Liverpool’s academy however discovered his alternatives restricted underneath Jurgen Klopp, solely making two senior appearances.

Now 27, he is been a mainstay within the Cottagers’ first workforce over the previous a number of seasons, taking part in necessary roles each within the Premier League and the second tier and even being described as “the footballer’s footballer” by Wales boss Craig Bellamy, who was praising his work-rate and mindset, permitting friends to feed into his method.

A technically gifted participant, the left-footer arcs in from the correct flank and utilises his shifty actions and natural-born intuition in entrance of objective to impress.

He is scored 5 instances within the high flight this time period having solely began eight instances, so he is clearly doing one thing proper.

In truth, he ranks among the many high 4% of attacking midfielders and wingers within the Premier League this time period for non-penalty targets scored per 90, as per FBref, suggesting that he might certainly make an impression within the present Liverpool squad, making use of reduction for Mohamed Salah.

With Nunez solely bagging 4 Premier League strikes this time period after such profligacy over the earlier two years, it solely serves to focus on the fumble that led Klopp to pursue the striker.

One factor’s for positive, he is extra medical in entrance of objective than Nunez proper now, regardless of his lowly market worth of £14m, as per Transfermarkt.

Sadly, the Wales worldwide fractured his foot on the finish of January and could possibly be out of motion till mid-April, however whether or not Nunez, who has scored in solely one in all his previous 12 top-flight matches, will be capable to catch him is one other query.