With the help of the returning Luis Diaz, Jurgen Klopp has made the right call in Darwin Nunes this year, ditching the Liverpool experience from last season.
There are a number of reasons why Liverpool striker Darwin Nunes has not reached the goal-scoring heights expected from his $106m (£87m/€100m) No.9, including the biggest is the waste in front of goal. United fans have been patient with the Uruguayan but there is no denying that he has missed 26 big chances in the Premier League.
However, one could argue that the reason Nunes wasn’t among the top scorers was due to limited playing time. As discussed yesterday, he has started just 22 of the 47 league games since arriving at Liverpool for various reasons.
This does not help integration. He could also say he hasn’t been at the top of his game as often as he’d like. Many critics have overlooked the fact that Nunes played 16 of 42 games last season (less than 40%) on the left wing (according to Transfermarkt).
Although he has a wealth of experience dating back to his Benfica days, it is clear that the number 9 is his preferred role. The answer here is that, in a completely hypothetical story, he wouldn’t have done enough to earn a starting position when given the opportunity. But you can’t expect Nunes to be his best if he doesn’t play consistent minutes in the capacity he wants to play.
In this sense, it can become a self-perpetuating cycle without sufficient patience on the part of managers. The data shows that Nunez scores more when playing as a left winger, but more importantly, this is likely to be inconsistent as he scores a much higher xG from a central position.
Yes, Liverpool’s front three are somewhat positioned as they rotate to break down opposition defences. Even when Nunez is attacking, you can often see him drifting to the left, which is still not impressive. Because Nines like to see their targets more clearly.
Statistics (90 minutes)
Left Wing (642 minutes)
Center Forward (1395 minutes)
Target 0.85 0.39
The help shows 0.14 0.32.
Expected loads 0.55 0.7
Expected goals 0.28 0.32
Expected Target Contribution 0.83 1.03
And this does not come at the expense of creativity. In fact, both assists and expected goals are higher compared to center forwards. Perhaps the most important number is the xGC number at the bottom. This shows that he is a big threat at the top position, which is not surprising.
The good news is that Jurgen Klopp appears to have ditched the left-back practice last season, with Nunes playing as a striker in all 10 games so far this season. In this he is embarking on a similar trajectory to former Anfield manager Luis Suarez, who split time between center and wing in his final years at Ajax before Kenny Dalglish and Brendan Rodgers made him a full-back full.
He played in all but two games during his Liverpool career. Klopp has now made a similar decision for Nunes, made possible by the return of Luis Diaz. The biggest reason he played extensively last year was that Diaz and Diogo Jota were out from October until the spring, but that’s not the full explanation as Cody Gakpo was still available to play in January.
Diaz is a regular on the left, having started eight of Liverpool’s first nine league games. (Had he not returned late from international duty in September, that game would have been everything.) So Nunes is no longer needed at fullback.
According to the underlying figures, the 26-year-old’s return could finally unleash the all-round potential of his fellow South American. The question now is whether Nunes can turn that promising data into tangible rewards.
