Liverpool’s Uruguayan striker Darwin Nunez (R) controls the ball during the English Premier League football match between Aston Villa and Liverpool at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England on December 26, 2022. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
Darwin Nunez was not on the scoresheet in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Monday but manager Juergen Klopp said he was delighted with the Uruguayan’s all-round play and is confident the goals will come.
Nunez missed several chances against Villa but his tireless running and chance creation saw him named Man of the Match, with his late cutback allowing teenager Stefan Bajcetic to score his first senior goal.
Klopp said he had been around long enough in football not too lose any sleep over Nunez’s recent scoring record.
“There are so many other things that are much more important because we look back at strikers and you cannot imagine some of the chances strikers who I worked with missed,” he said.
“The work rate he put in, the spaces he creates, he’s unstoppable in the moment. There is no defender who can really catch up speed-wise.”
Nunez has scored just five league goals since being brought in as Sadio Mane’s replacement in a transfer that cost Liverpool an initial fee of 75 million euros ($79.92 million) in the close season.
Klopp said he is being patient with the 23-year-old, who also failed to score in three games at the World Cup.
“He will score goals, I have no doubt about that,” said the German. “Everything will be fine.”