Whatever weaknesses may currently linger in Darwin Nunez’ game, he is a shot machine beyond repute. His average of 5.8 efforts per 90 minutes is the most of any player in England, France, Germany, Italy or Spain this season.
Only 23 men in the top divisions in those countries have taken more shots in total, despite the fact the Liverpool new boy has played less than half of the available minutes (per FBRef). And unlike, say, Mario Balotelli, who fired off countless goal attempts from poor locations, Nunez mostly deals in decent opportunities. Just seven players in the big leagues have taken as many shots and from closer to goal on average in 2022/23.
While it’s unrealistic to expect a similar level of performance from everyone regardless of whether they are playing for their club or country – they can’t all reach Lionel Messi’s levels – Nunez was almost entirely blunt at the World Cup. The contrast between his numbers in Qatar and his stats for the Reds emphatically proves the point.
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Nunez has made 10 starts for Liverpool and in nine of them he has had at least three shots. Even in the exception, the Champions League win against Ajax in Amsterdam, he scored anyway. Yet at the World Cup, where he was in the XI for all three Uruguay games, the 23-year-old had just three shots in total, one in each match.
His best moments occurred in the 2-0 win over Ghana. Played in by eventual two-goal scorer Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Nunez lifted an effort past goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi, but Mohammed Salisu was able to clear off the line. Three minutes later, the Liverpool man set up his one chance of the tournament, for former Red Luis Suarez, and that ultimately led to the opening goal. It was a brief burst of his club form, nothing more.
From a Liverpool perspective, his lack of impact from the left of the front three, in the goalless draw with South Korea, might be a concern. With Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota out of action, Nunez can expect to receive further opportunities in that position for the Reds. In fairness, he started there for the final game before the World Cup, against Southampton, and scored twice.
While it was only a friendly, the Uruguayan also bagged a brace in the victory over AC Milan last week. Nunez was the only one of Liverpool’s septet of players who were in Qatar to feature in either of their mid-season matches and he made the most of the opportunity.
Perhaps most interesting was how his Milan goals came about. While with Benfica, Nunez scored four goals from Opta-defined counter attacks, yet hasn’t broken his duck in this fashion for the Reds. His first strike in Dubai would surely meet the criteria, as most of the Italian side’s players were up field and their defence was not set when the attack began. One glorious pass from Bobby Clark and Nunez was bearing down on goal, with the outcome not seriously in doubt.
The sad truth for Liverpool is that they have been far too susceptible to being hurt in this manner themselves this season, rather than inflicting pain in this way. As teams are content to sit deep and then hit them on the break, it has been hard for the Reds to create chances of this nature for their big-money summer signing.
They should be able to carve out similar opportunities to the one which led to Nunez’ second Milan goal though. It was somewhat similar to his strike in the loss at Arsenal in October. In the friendly, Ben Doak did the hard work on the right flank before squaring for the number 27 to gobble up a tap-in. Considering the dribbling and crossing potential Liverpool have at their disposal, this sort of service to the former Benfica man should be occurring more frequently than it has been.
But most importantly, Nunez had several shots against Milan and scored twice. Where his World Cup toils will have fuelled the fire of rival fans convinced he will flop in England, his Liverpool form continues to suggest the polar opposite.
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