Darwin Núñez, one of the most divisive players amongst the Liverpool fanbase over the last few years, shows the kind of player he is with incredible frequency–he will always run hard, give great effort and play with a high motor, in addition to strangely finishing quite difficult chances with some regularity.
However, the aspect of his game for which he’s most often criticized is his inability to finish the easy goal scoring opportunities, a reoccurring flaw which came to haunt Liverpool in its 2-2 draw against Aston Villa.
Labeling Núñez as an “agent of chaos” may be endearing, but compared to the remarkable consistency of his teammate Mo Salah—who once again delivered with a goal and an assist against Villa—Núñez must start converting his big chances more reliably if Liverpool are to win the league.
After coming on for Diogo Jota in the 66th minute with the game deadlocked, it took just three minutes for the Uruguayan to be involved with a massive break, as fellow substitute Conor Bradley played a brilliant, sweeping ball to Dominik Szoboszlai.
Szoboszlai drove forward and drew Villa keeper Emi Martínez out of place, laying a pass off to Núñez who simply needed to slot the ball past the outstretched, desperate legs of center back Axel Diasi and into the empty net–he failed miserably.
Granted, Núñez had to lift the ball accurately with Diasi sliding in at full speed, but it’s a skill he has successfully executed from even trickier positions before.
This miss was simply shocking, with an xG of 0.89 before he skied it into the Birmingham night.
Whether it was the gravity of the occasion or something else that made Núñez uncomfortable, this was Liverpool’s best chance to steal a win on the road, and it amounted to naught.
Then in the 75th minute, Núñez actually did quite well to strip Tyrone Mings of the ball, who was progressing up the field casually, quickly pouncing on the giveaway.
Martínez then sprinted off his line in a flash to challenge Núñez several yards outside the penalty box.
While it felt like a "bang-bang play", and Martínez admittedly did well to make such a crucial challenge, a more aware striker might have spotted Salah wide open on the right and set him up for one of the easiest goals of his career.
Lastly, moments later, Núñez found himself just inside the penalty box with a decent look at goal. Despite everything that had happened earlier, I screamed at my TV for him to shoot.
Instead, he played a weak, misdirected through ball to the right intended for Szoboszlai, which harmlessly rolled out of play for a goal kick.
It was the clearest sign yet that he had completely lost confidence in the match.
Even after the game while Liverpool players were applauding the traveling Reds for their support, Núñez quickly made his way for the tunnel, seemingly wanting to forget his evening as quickly as possible.
“There is one player in the dressing who feels quite down. You know who it is,” Arne Slot said after the game. It’s not difficult to piece together who he’s talking about.
Of course there were other issues with Liverpool’s performance–Diogo Jota’s poor miss right after Villa scored their opener and the building futility from corners over the last couple of games come to mind–but Núñez isn’t just a scapegoat as to why Liverpool couldn’t pick up a win; he is indeed the biggest reason behind the two points dropped.
It's all the more frustrating when Núñez drops a showing like this considering he's shown flashes of scoring huge goals for the club, including his heroic brace last season versus Newcastle and his late, late winner vs. Brentford this season.
Playing amidst conversations and debates about your future with the club cannot be easy either, but with Cody Gakpo possibly missing Sunday’s pivotal game against Manchester City with an injury, Núñez will quickly need to flush this game down the toilet if he’s called into action this weekend and beyond.