Last summer, Liverpool spent heavily on Darwin Nunez, but the Uruguayan player had a difficult start at Anfield. He arrived in the Premier League at the same time as Man City’s Erling Haaland and the two were compared because they were similar in many aspects.
Haaland’s form last season with 52 goals overshadowed Nunez. But coach Jurgen Klopp has always publicly defended Nunez, affirming that the striker will need more time to become a star for Liverpool.
But at the beginning of the 23/24 season, Nunez is playing much better. Up to now, Nunez has scored 7 goals and assisted 4 goals in all competitions. Additionally, after his goal against Bournemouth, he now has a better goals per minute average than Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah.
It has been revealed that Nunez is also outperforming Man City’s Haaland in 3 important indicators. According to FBREF, Nunez is ranked number one in the Premier League in terms of goals + assists/90 minutes, non-penalty goals+assists/90 minutes and total shots/90 minutes.
The Uruguayan is considered a pure number 9, but at Liverpool he plays a significant role in developing the ball by dropping deeper.
As for Haaland, his contributions outside the penalty area for City may not be significant, but he has 13 goals and 3 assists in 15 matches for Man City this season. But Nunez proved superior in the number of touches, successful passes and creating opportunities.
Clearly, Nunez is not on the same level as Haaland when it comes to the end product of goals. But it is fair to say that he is currently doing a good job outside the penalty area as a multi-dimensional striker.