Jose Enrique has risked incurring the wrath of Liverpool supporters by claiming that he’d take one Everton player over their Anfield counterpart.
The former Reds defender was speaking to Grosvenor Sport (via TEAMtalk) ahead of today’s Merseyside derby when he discussed the two men who wear the number nine shirt at their respective clubs.
The Spaniard said: “Obviously, Liverpool fans are not going to like hearing this from me, but with both Darwin Nunez and Dominic Calvert-Lewin fully fit, I think I would take Calvert-Lewin.
“People seem to forget how good Calvert-Lewin is when he’s fully fit – he’s an excellent player. The way I see it – put Darwin Nunez in any world-class teams in the world and I don’t think he’s starts for most of them.
“However, if Calvert-Lewin could keep himself fit, I really believe he could be a starting number nine for a world-class team. That’s the kind of level I see from him.
“Even when Darwin Nunez is scoring goals for Liverpool, I still have my doubts about him as a player under Jurgen Klopp.
“I love him and think he would do well for loads of other teams who play counterattacking football – he’s outstanding for that – but for a team that presses a lot like Liverpool do, I’m not so sure.”
Calvert-Lewin is certainly a very good striker, and Everton only survived relegation by the skin of their teeth without him for most of last season, but he’s still not in the same league as Nunez.
Since joining Liverpool in June 2022, the Uruguayan has scored 19 goals in 52 appearances (0.37 per game) across 2,836 minutes of game-time, averaging one every 149.26 minutes (Transfermarkt).
Both averages compare favourably to his Toffees counterpart, who has 63 goals in 215 matches for his current club (0.29 per game) spread throughout 13,943 minutes on the pitch, with one every 231.32 minutes (Transfermarkt).
What centre-forwards do off the ball is obviously crucial to a team functioning successfully, but ultimately their currency is scoring goals, and in that regard, the £140,000-per-week Nunez (Capology) is well clear of Calvert-Lewin.
Also, as good as the Everton marksman has been, he’s had horrendous luck with injuries over the past couple of years, which raises question marks over his reliability in terms of availability. Sorry, Jose, but we can’t side with you on this one!
#Ep94 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️