With Jurgen Klopp’s farewell taking center stage, Darwin Nunez has been able to go unnoticed. However, Liverpool would still be leading the Premier League if they had a lethal striker like Dominic Solanke at the top of the field.
Darwin Nunez has struggled for form since joining Liverpool (Image: Getty)
The forward cost just £19 million to join Bournemouth in 2019, so the Reds must regret letting him go. He couldn’t have fired a straight shot at Jordan Pickford with the Merseyside derby hanging in the balance. or failing to score on any of their 21 shots in the Crystal Palace defeat.
With 18 league goals so far this season, Solanke is two goals behind Cole Palmer and Erling Haaland. If Luis Diaz and Mo Salah were playing either side of him, he would have a lot more.This season, Nunez has 106 shots and 11 goals.
A striker who takes ten shots to score a goal is not something a top-seeded team can afford. By contrast, Solanke has scored about one goal for each five shots that he has attempted. That record is comparable to Erling Haaland’s.
The numbers are very discouraging, especially Nunez’s 27 blown opportunities.
Nunez has four years remaining on his contract after Liverpool paid an initial £64 million for him. If they were to sell the Uruguayan this summer, they would be hard-pressed to get most of that money back.
But in the long run, they might lose more silverware if they continue to have faith in the 24-year-old.
Havertz content
It was good to watch Kai Havertz celebrate his goals against Chelsea, his former team.
Instead of suppressing their joy out of “respect,” players ought to be urged to celebrate each time they hit the back of the net.
They can only treat them disrespectfully if they act like Emmanuel Adebayor and taunt them by running the entire length of the pitch.
