Darwin Nunez was the topic of loads of ridicule final season however the £85million striker has been silencing his critics this time round.
The Uruguayan joined Liverpool in the summertime of 2022, the identical summer time by which Erling Haaland made his transfer to Man Metropolis.
Naturally that led to comparisons between the 2 forwards with followers debating which of the Premier League giants had made the higher buy.
That debate shortly fizzled out as Haaland took the Premier League by storm whereas Nunez struggled in his new environment.
Haaland would go on break objective scoring information as he helped Pep Guardiola’s aspect declare a historic Treble whereas Nunez was finest remembered for a number of evident misses in what was a depressing season for the Reds.
![Darwin Nunez is starting to show fans why Liverpool paid £85million to secure his services](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/08/13/82211415-13173101-image-a-1_1709905678329.jpg)
Darwin Nunez is beginning to present followers why Liverpool paid £85million to safe his providers
![Erling Haaland has continued to put up big numbers but hasn't hit the heights of last season](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/08/13/82211411-13173101-image-a-2_1709905682416.jpg)
Erling Haaland has continued to place up massive numbers however hasn’t hit the heights of final season
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Nevertheless, those that really watched Liverpool video games relatively than viral social media clips may see that there was a harmful participant in Nunez.
Chants of ‘Nunez, Nunez, Nunez’ had been a continuing all through final season at Anfield with Reds supporters recognising his work charge and talent to get into threatening positions.
And the previous Benfica man has began to benefit from these positions after a what was a sluggish begin to the marketing campaign.
Nunez’s sensible brace towards Sparta Prague on Thursday night time means he is now surpassed his objective tally from final season in all competitions.
The Uruguay worldwide has 16 objectives and 11 assists in 39 appearances with Liverpool nonetheless harbouring hopes of a quadruple in Jurgen Klopp’s farewell season.
Nunez is hitting kind at simply the appropriate time with eight in his final 10 outings forward of this Sunday’s mammoth top-of-the-table six pointer with Metropolis.
They usually’re usually massive objectives too. The truth is, in line with Opta no Premier League participant has scored extra match-winning objectives this season, the newest of these coming within the 99th minute towards Nottingham Forest.
Haaland, in the meantime, has continued to place up ridiculous numbers with 29 objectives and 6 assists in 32 video games however he hasn’t been fairly the the identical deadly or inevitable presence he was final time period.
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/10/08/82271487-13173101-image-a-6_1710059889693.jpg)
Nunez has scored eight in his final 10 matches, together with this winner at Nottingham Forest
![While Haaland is leading the race for the Premier League's Golden Boot he also leads the way for big chances missed](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/10/08/82271201-13173101-image-a-4_1710059239994.jpg)
Whereas Haaland is main the race for the Premier League’s Golden Boot he additionally leads the best way for giant possibilities missed
The Norwegian ranks No 1 for giant possibilities missed on this season’s Premier League, 5 away from second-placed Nunez.
Haaland nonetheless leads the race for the Golden Boot however nobody can deny that he will get higher service than Nunez in a Metropolis workforce that all the time dominates possession and creates possibilities at will.
But, when how the 2 strikers evaluate with reference to xG, the state of affairs is nearer than you would possibly count on.
Haaland is at present underperforming his xG by 3.89 objectives whereas Nunez is underperforming by 4.26.
The truth is that the Reds man might not be essentially the most medical striker however that’s levelled out by his capability to place himself in harmful positions extra frequently.
Damage points have meant that Nunez has additionally performed considerably fewer minutes and that is mirrored when inspecting the minutes-per-goal contribution of the Uruguayan and Haaland.
Haaland nonetheless edges it however it’s shut. The Metropolis man averaging a objective or an help each 80 minutes within the high flight whereas it is 88 for Nunez.
And whereas Haaland’s kind is stagnating considerably Nunez’s is barely getting higher.
Talking on Thursday, Klopp was assured there may be a lot extra to come back.
‘He has a very powerful angle a striker must have; he missed possibilities however all strikers are doing that however he’s not bothered by it and simply retains going.
‘That is why he now has a pleasant variety of objectives, video games to come back, alternatives to come back.
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/03/08/16/82217667-13173101-image-a-14_1709913872127.jpg)
‘When he is not scoring he for us is extremely vital as he is a continuing menace and offers us areas in areas and choices.’
‘Fantastic man, great boy. He likes to play for this workforce along with these boys and has high quality popping out of his ears, to be trustworthy.
‘It is like strikers are, they rating after which they do not rating. Is he at his absolute peak usually? Not now for us. However can he develop? Sure. Is he a menace on a regular basis? Sure.’
Is he a much bigger menace than Haaland? We’ll discover out at Anfield.
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