It has been a fine start to the new season for Liverpool’s forward line.
Mohamed Salah has three goals and three assists, Luis Diaz three goals and one assist, and Diogo Jota one of each. On Tuesday, Cody Gakpo’s setup for Dominik Szoboszlai to put Liverpool 3-1 up in Milan got him off the mark for goal contributions this season.
Aside from new arrival Federico Chiesa — a £12.5 million ($16.5m) signing from Juventus — who made his first appearance as a stoppage-time substitute at San Siro, one forward is absent from that list this term.
Darwin Nunez has been restricted to four substitute appearances totalling 88 minutes. In those minutes, his impact has been minimal.
The Uruguayan’s cameo against Milan was his 100th appearance for Liverpool. His tally of 33 goals and 17 assists means he has contributed to a goal in one of every two games — scoring in one in every three — since his arrival in 2022.
It is a reasonable record but could be much better, especially for a player who cost an initial €75million (£64m; $84.7m), rising to a potential €100m after add-ons. Countless missed chances and inconsistent performances have left Nunez at a crossroads in the early stages of his third season at Anfield. He has not started a game so far this term (the only attacker bar Chiesa not to do so) and does not seem to have an obvious place in Arne Slot’s plans.
One of the head coach’s tasks when he arrived was to develop and extract more from a number of players, with Nunez chief among them. The 25-year-old was one of the first players contacted by the Dutchman and during that conversation, he relayed his belief in the striker and detailed how he would fit into his system.
Darwin Nunez is yet to score this season (Piero Cruciatti/AFP via Getty Images)
For all that, he is not currently a preferred starting option. Nunez was one of the few senior players not away on international duty earlier this month, as he was banned for Uruguay, but Slot still opted not to start him against Forest.
Instead, he opted for Diaz, despite the Colombian playing every minute of his national side’s two matches the previous week, and Jota, who started one of Portugal’s two matches and came off the bench in the other.
It all means that Nunez has been unable to generate any rhythm this campaign, a problem compounded by his late return to Liverpool for pre-season training after his endeavours at the Copa America. Jota, for example, was back in Kirkby far earlier than Nunez, giving him more chance to work with the manager and learn the system.
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When Nunez has been brought on, he has struggled to make an impact, although in three of his four substitute appearances, Liverpool were winning the game comfortably and control and ball retention were the priority rather than increasing the lead.
In his 88 minutes so far this season, he has touched the ball in the box just four times, three of which came against AC Milan, with many of his contributions in deeper positions — unsurprisingly given the state of the games.
There was understandable concern about the lack of impact he had against Forest, although he was far from the only one — no substitute made a positive impact.
Callum Hudson-Odoi’s winner, a move that started after Nunez lost a challenge on the edge of the opposition penalty area, left Liverpool needing two goals in 18 minutes. The average position pitch map below, from 76 minutes until full time, showed Nunez operating in a right-back role rather than as a No 9.
The graphic is slightly misleading because the striker is positioned there due to his only touch in the final 15 minutes of the game being in that area, yet the fact he touched the ball once, nowhere near the box, when Liverpool needed goals is worrying.
Rewatch the final stages of the game and Nunez barely moves from the No 9 position between Forest’s two central defenders — occupying them but not unsettling them. His movement was fine, but he suffered from a lack of service and quality around him on a day when so many individual performances were poor, although that does not absolve him of blame for not providing more of a spark himself.
Body language has often been an obvious tell about Nunez’s mood previously, but there can be no complaints about his attitude and application so far. When introduced, he has provided energy out of possession and a determination to press and win the ball back regardless of the time on the clock.
The latest example was the closest he came to finding the net in the dying moments of the match against Milan. With the ball loose in the box, Nunez was alert to react quicker and make the ground up to beat goalkeeper Lorenzo Torriani to the ball, but his near-post effort was saved.
One ray of hope for Nunez is Gakpo. He had also failed to start any game this season before the Milan match, but when handed his chance in San Siro, he seized it, delivering a standout performance. It shows how momentum and confidence can be sparked at a stroke.
That’s why it is far too early to draw sweeping conclusions on Nunez and his status under the new regime: indeed, this slow phasing in could all be part of a grand plan. At Feyenoord, Slot was not afraid to slowly work new signings in while working hard with them on the training pitch. Nunez is not a new transfer at Liverpool, but from Slot’s perspective, they are all new players learning a new system. That can take longer for some.
Patience across the fanbase began to show signs of waning towards the end of last season. His last Liverpool goal was on April 4 against Sheffield United when he charged down Ivo Grbic’s clearance, a run which now stretches to 14 games.
Starting games will help, but like Gakpo, he has to take the opportunity when it comes.
(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
