Darwin Nunez’s Liverpool career might have just hit its breaking point—another shocking miss, another frustrating night, and possibly the final nail in his Anfield coffin.
Liverpool were held to a stalemate against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Wednesday night in the Premier League.
One of the talking points on the night was a glaring miss by Darwin Nunez, which has prompted questions on whether the match has sealed the striker’s exit from Anfield in the summer transfer window.
Slot has made significant progress with many of the players he took over from Jurgen Klopp before the start of the season, but smoothing out Nunez’s loose ends has proven to be a challenge.
Liverpool boast six senior forwards, yet much of the responsibility for their title challenge falls squarely on Mo Salah when it comes to providing the goals and attacking output, as was evident once again in the draw against Villa.
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Is Darwin Nunez exit from Anfield now unavoidable?
Despite hopes that his match-winning brace at Brentford in January would provide a much-needed confidence boost, Nunez has failed to find the net in his last eight appearances, although only two have been starts.
The Uruguay international has only managed just six goals across all competitions this campaign.
According to TheAthletic, the former Benfica striker has shown signs of regression rather than improvement in his third season with the Reds, and a departure in the summer seems more likely with each passing week.
After equalizing with Alexander-Arnold’s deflected shot, Liverpool looked poised to regain the lead in the match when Conor Bradley played a pass that sent Dominik Szoboszlai racing through on goal.
As Emiliano Martinez rushed out to close him down, Szoboszlai passed the ball to Nunez, who somehow managed to fire it over the bar from just six yards with an open goal in front of him. The striker was left with that familiar feeling, adding yet another obvious miss to his growing collection.
Liverpool’s decision to turn down interest in Nunez from Saudi Arabia last month was understandable, considering the issues of finding an appropriate replacement mid-season.
However, as the summer approaches, the club may need to part ways with him and bring in a new striker who aligns with Slot’s style of play. Liverpool will need to regroup, as the striker still has his part to play in the season.
However, against Villa, Nunez showed exactly why he remains lower in the pecking order and why, after the summer, he is very likely to be playing his football elsewhere.
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