Clinton Morrison has leapt to the defence of Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez, praising the striker for ‘causing problems’ for opponents and developing a ‘relationship’ with Mo Salah.
The 24-year-old has struck seven goals this season but has none in his last nine appearances (Transfermarkt), while he’s faced relentless questioning from the media over the chances that he’s missed.
However, speaking on the BBC Radio 5 Live Football Daily Podcast, the Sky Sports pundit has backed the Uruguayan to come good once he continues to get into scorable positions.
Morrison said of Nunez: “He’s a threat mate, he will be good, he will be good. People are moaning about the chances he’s missing, but I’d be more concerned if he wasn’t getting chances, he’s getting in there and that’s the biggest thing.
“He’s causing problems and eventually the goals will start coming for him. He’s building up a little relationship with Salah too.”
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It’s fair to say that Nunez can be a frustrating player at times, scoring sublime goals but also culpable of passing up opportunities you’d expect someone of his ability to score with ease.
That’s borne out in his season’s xG of 10 exceeding his goal tally of seven, the biggest disparity for that metric among any player at Liverpool (FBref), while it’s a concern that he hasn’t found the net since the Carabao Cup win at Bournemouth on 1 November (Transfermarkt).
However, like Morrison says, the 24-year-old has a far greater chance of ending the drought if he keeps tormenting opposition defences with his movement and getting into positions where he can make a difference for the Reds, rather than shying away from the penalty area because his luck has been out recently.
Nobody in Jurgen Klopp’s squad has taken more shots (62) or landed more on target (24) than Nunez this term (FBref), so the sheer law of probability would suggest that the goals will flow for him once he continues to have a pop.
Even Salah has had spells where he’d go several matches without scoring, but thankfully the likes of Bobby Firmino and Sadio Mane stepped up during the Egyptian’s lean periods.
A player of the Uruguayan’s ability and self-belief is too good to be kept scoreless for much longer, and we’ve seen it many times before with other forwards that once the first goal goes in, famine can soon turn to feast.
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