Darwin Nunes looked confident in the first half of Liverpool’s game against Luton on Sunday. Incredibly, he became the first Reds player to hit six in a Premier League game this season in 35 minutes, as Andrew Beasley pointed out on Twitter.
Nunez used his skills to hit a long-range curler to beat Tomas Kaminsky twice in the Carabao Cup winner against Bournemouth in midweek. He didn’t seem very energetic or supportive. Nunes tapped the ball onto the bar just before giving Liverpool the lead after Trent Alexander-Arnold continued his smart run with a perfectly weighted pass. The Uruguayan could have done better given his fame, but it seemed inevitable that he would score. Still 0-0 after 20 minutes, Nunes had a golden opportunity. Alexander-Arnold found Mohamed Salah at the back post and Salah headed the ball wide of the bar and into the back post for the number nine, one of Liverpool’s worst misses.
Unfortunately, this is a long list. Like all strikers who fail to change their seats, Nunes looked to the linesman who gracefully raised his flag. It was undoubtedly a tragic move, but the offside move was something of a shield. However, replays showed that Salah was involved in the match after he was adjudged to have committed a foul. This means that the goal could have been scored if Nunez had completed a simple task. Liverpool, on the other hand, could have won the game after Tahiti Chong’s opener instead of being held to a draw in extra time.
But this is a player who looked insecure last season, so the big question now is whether that mistake, knowing the consequences it will inevitably have, will fuel self-defeating doubts or whether Nunes will take the hit lightly. One of the most important qualities of a truly elite attacker is the ability to react quickly and accurately to such failures.From the team’s perspective, there’s no denying that this was definitely a collective failure and one that could be seen as a valuable result at the end of the season.
But in the short term, the players, especially Nunes, need to put the past behind them. The next few games could be crucial as the $107m man looks to repeat his form. share thisÂ
