Darwin Nunez Can’t ‘Become Erling Haaland’ Despite Being ‘Useful’ for Liverpool & Jurgen Klopp, Believes Pundit

Darwin Nunez currently finds himself at odds with both time and luck. The Uruguayan international has suddenly grabbed the negative limelight after enduring a slow start to his Liverpool campaign. While he grapples to find the back of the net, a pundit has expressed his doubts that Nunez will ever reach the ‘goal-scoring’ level of Erling Haaland. 

The spotlight intensified following his recent match against Arsenal, in which he again fired blank. Gabriel Magalhaes opened the scoring within four minutes as Mohamed Salah came to the Reds’ rescue in the 28th minute. 

Darwin Nunez can never compete alongside Erling Haaland

In ESPN’s Extra Time, Gabriel Marcotti was asked by a netizen if Nunez would ever produce in the final third again. Interestingly, the pundit praised him for bringing a lot to the table, but that won’t ever lead him to reach the level of Haaland. He said, “I mean, presumably, at some point he will, but I think the reality to him is he brings a lot of other attributes to the table, and I know he had that one breakout season where he scored a ton of goals for Benfica, but I don’t know that he’s ever going to become Erling Haaland in terms of goal scoring.” 

Additionally, the pundit further added that manager Jurgen Klopp still hasn’t figured out where he needs to put Nunez in the starting XI, where he’ll reach his maximum potential. “But he doesn’t need to be useful, and I think that’s why Klopp’s trying to find him spots where he can help without necessarily converting all those chances,” Gab concluded. Be that as it may, this is quite a bold claim from the revered pundit. But how bad is Nunez’s form? Let’s dive deeper. 

READ MORE: “I’m Not a Pope of Football” – Jurgen Klopp Confesses He Has to ‘Adapt a Lot’ at Liverpool

A deeper look at Darwin Nunez’s goal drought

Nunez has been unsuccessful in scoring in his previous 11 matches, which includes a seven-game streak without a goal in the Premier League. The striker has taken 24 shots in the Premier League without finding the net and has missed at least one significant scoring opportunity, with an expected goals ratio of 0.17 or higher, in five of his last six games. 

While Nunez leads all Premier League players in shots per ninety this season, his conversion percentage is a dismal 9%, indicating his inadequacy at the front. Furthermore, he has managed to score only four goals out of 42 shots, which raises concerns. Let’s hope Nunez can turn things around in the second leg of the 2023–24 season. 

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