KLOPP: “I don’t like his current form” he can do better when he play with players Mané instead of salah

Last Saturday, Darwin Núñez had a tremendous afternoon against Luton. The entire home team had eight shots between them, but he had nine. The Uruguayan would surely trade stats with the Hatters if he could, as they actually managed to score.

Núñez tied the Premier League record for 2023–24 with the same number of goals scored by Marcus Rashford against Brighton and Erling Haaland at West Ham. The 24-year-old also tied Roberto Firmino’s league-high total for Liverpool, just one goal short of Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah’s records. Regarding shot volume, it was a very outstanding performance.

But by failing to score, Núñez’s (and his teammates’) wastefulness allowed Luton to take the lead and very nearly claim all three points. A slight improvement from Liverpool’s number nine could work wonders.

It’s reasonable to argue that not all goals are created equal, even though they all appear on official records. Even while these kinds of strikes are fun, one that ends the impasse is always worth more than, example, the sixth or seventh in a hammering of Manchester United.

When taking the lead in league games, Liverpool has won 82.4% of them since the beginning of Jürgen Klopp’s first full season in charge. Darwin had nine tries at goal at Kenilworth Road, all of which ended in goals conceded. Had he scored, the Reds would have had a strong chance of winning.

As extreme an example as this match was, it took Núñez’s total of shots taken while the score was 0-0 to 17 in league and Europe this season, at least seven more than any of his Liverpool colleagues. His efforts have been collectively worth 1.88 expected goals (per FBRef) yet none of them has found the net. The others did not prove as costly, at least, as the four other matches in which they occurred were all won.

Despite having Opta-defined big chances against Union SG and Nottingham Forest, Darwin’s shots at 0-0 have carried an average value of just 0.111 expected goals. The data shows he could benefit from following Diogo Jota’s example.

He has had 10 shots while matches have been goalless but their cumulative xG value has been a touch higher than what Núñez has amassed, meaning their chance quality is approaching double. This helps explain why the former Wolves man has scored twice from these shots, breaking the deadlock against Toulouse and Forest in the space of four days.

Darwin could now emphasize that he was the one who created the opportunity for the second goal, as Matt Turner pushed his on-target shot into Jota’s path. However, his Portuguese colleague may respond by examining entire Liverpool careers.

Jota now has 48 goals for the Reds, tied for 58th most in club history, after his goal in France last time out. Although the Portuguese forward’s goal was only somewhat consoling—due in large part to VAR and Liverpool’s lackluster performance—he has scored 19 goals in his first 19 appearances for Klopp.

This means that 39.6 per cent of his total has turned goalless games in Liverpool’s favor. Although there are players with higher hit rates since 2015/16, none of them have scored more than 13 goals in total for the Reds.

Only one of the club’s legendary front three comes particularly close to Jota’s knack for opening the scoring too. Mané did so with 36.7 per cent of his 120 goals, putting him comfortably ahead of Salah (28.1) and Roberto Firmino (18.9).

Bobby is also ahead of Núñez; the South American’s three goals out of 22 goals (13.6%) were enough to break the tie. Darwin’s worth to Liverpool will soar if he can score more goals and help the Reds take the lead more frequently. However, sharper finishing will allow Darwin to score more often, period.