When Liverpool introduced the £85million signing of striker Darwin Nunez only a day after Erling Haaland joined Manchester Metropolis, it felt prefer it could possibly be the daybreak of one of many nice Premier League rivalries.
Two younger big-money entrance males, massive in stature and large in status, able to go head-to-head to fireside their sides to glory.
Solely, it by no means labored out like that. Haaland hit the bottom operating and by no means appeared again, fired Metropolis to back-to-back titles and picked up two golden boots within the course of.
Nunez, in contrast, remains to be combating to show he has what it takes. Haaland is the mainstay of Metropolis’s assault. Nunez has began fewer than half of Liverpool’s league video games since his arrival. He is proven glimpses of what he can do however, so usually, showcases what he cannot.
Nothing did so greater than his obvious miss in Liverpool’s draw with Aston Villa when he blazed an enormous likelihood over the bar with the online open, unguarded and at his mercy.
That is the irritating factor about Nunez, numerous his recreation is excellent. He is fast and stretches the play, his physicality causes fixed chaos for opposition defences and his motion is so good it will get him into goalscoring positions extra usually than many different Premier League strikers.
Darwin Nunez was at it once more in opposition to Aston Villa – lacking a terrific likelihood when he ought to have scored for his facet
The ahead has change into one of the vital wasteful strikers in England and blazed over the bar with the objective at his mercy
When he joined Liverpool in 2022 alongside Erling Haaland, it appeared as if they might have an all-time nice rivalry
Solely 4 gamers have racked up extra ‘Huge Probabilities’ than Nunez – what stats gurus Opta outline as a possibility {that a} participant ought to moderately be anticipated to attain – throughout his time on the membership – Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Ollie Watkins and Alexander Isak.
All of them, although, have performed no less than 1,000 extra league minutes than the Liverpool striker. Haaland has performed almost 50 extra hours of Premier League soccer than Nunez; Watkins and Salah close to 60 extra.
Nunez is an elite likelihood getter. The issue is, as he continues to point out, he is something however an elite finisher. Of these 67 massive probabilities, he is missed 51 of them – greater than three quarters, comfy the worst ending fee of anybody with 20 targets since his debut.
Since his debut, solely Dominic Calvert-Lewin has underperformed his Anticipated Objectives (xG) as drastically as Nunez. The Liverpool entrance man has scored virtually eight targets fewer than he ought to have accomplished based mostly on the standard of his probabilities.
Of the 35 gamers to attain 20 targets since Nunez and Haaland arrived within the Premier League, solely two – Bruno Fernandes and Eberechi Eze, neither out-and-out strikers – have a worse conversion fee than the 11 per cent of Nunez.
All in all, Nunez scores one in each 9 photographs. Isak and Haaland, in the meantime, rating about one in 4.
That is what makes them world-class strikers.
A stat did the rounds after the Villa recreation that Nunez has missed 0.99 Huge Probabilities per 90 minutes since his league debut, probably the most of any participant. Curiously, it was Haaland second on the record at 0.95.
The Metropolis behemoth misses virtually one a recreation too, it isn’t simply Nunez that squanders sitters.
The place that issues much less for Haaland is that he normally buries the primary one which comes his method. And, if he would not, he’ll get one other one.
Within the 23 matches the place Haaland has had only a single Huge Probability, he is transformed it 15 instances. Within the 25 video games during which Nunez has had only one, he is missed 20 of them and Liverpool didn’t win half of the video games. It issues extra when Nunez misses.
So, why does he miss extra? For one, Haaland is solely extra correct. A take a look at his shot maps throughout their time at their respective golf equipment exhibits the Metropolis man is extra capable of finding the corners when it issues whereas Nunez regularly shoots straight on the keeper – or misses the goal utterly.
Haaland frequently converts when he has one simply massive likelihood and doesn’t let misses get to him
Nunez, nevertheless, does – Arne Slot criticised his work fee following the miss in opposition to Villa
Nobody with 20 league targets since his arrival does so at the next fee, with Nunez placing 39 per cent of his photographs – two in each 5 of them – both huge, in opposition to the submit or excessive.
Haaland retains issues easy. Nunez usually seems muddled, in his ideas and his approach. His notorious miss in opposition to Manchester United final season, in entrance of an open objective, he could not determine whether or not to faucet it in or sq. it and, ultimately, did neither.
Nunez’s misses seem to trouble him extra. Haaland is a robotic. Nunez’s miss in opposition to Villa affected him a lot, Arne Slot got here out after the sport to criticise how the striker’s work-rate dropped after the prospect.
What this miss additionally clouded, nevertheless, was how a lot Nunez has really improved this season.
Nunez has scored 4 targets this time period from an xG of… 4. His conversion fee is as much as 15 per cent, nonetheless not nice, however higher. Regardless of his Villa miss, he is changing round 43 per cent of his Huge Probabilities.
He is nonetheless bought an extended solution to go and fluffing his traces at Villa Park seems to have set him again as soon as once more.
Fortunately, for Nunez, Liverpool nonetheless have a wholesome lead on the high of the desk. If it begins to slim, although, that is when Slot will want his strikers to be ruthless when it issues.
