‘Something to look at’: Arne Slot discusses the realities of Darwin Nunez’s situation with complete honesty…

Arne Slot provides an unvarnished assessment of Darwin Nunez’s situation.

Liverpool has shown impressive attacking prowess this season.

The team boasts a wealth of talent in forward positions, which has often been evident during matches.

However, while scoring 22 goals in nine games is a commendable achievement for Slot, it is also important to note that some players are underperforming in terms of goal contributions.

Currently, Liverpool features six elite attacking players in their first-team lineup, yet only two have netted more than three goals.

Mohamed Salah continues to be a formidable scorer, and Luis Diaz is vying for the Premier League Golden Boot. However, the two players expected to spearhead the attack have struggled to find the back of the net.

As Liverpool gears up for a challenging match against Crystal Palace this weekend, Slot has offered a candid evaluation of both Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota.

Slot emphasizes the need for increased goal output from the strikers.

Historically, Liverpool’s wide players have outscored the central striker over the past decade.

Salah has consistently been a prolific scorer, and Sadio Mane also outperformed Roberto Firmino in this regard. Thus, it is not surprising that a significant portion of Liverpool’s goals comes from the flanks.

Nonetheless, this does not diminish the expectation for greater contributions from the center-forward position.

In the initial stages of his tenure, it has become evident that Slot favors Jota over Nunez. Despite the Portuguese forward netting three goals, two of those were in the Carabao Cup, and he has not scored since the Premier League’s opening day or in the Champions League.

Nunez has managed to score once in the league, but opportunities have been scarce for him.

He did have a chance in the Champions League midweek, but was unable to convert. As noted by Peter Crouch after the match, Nunez likely felt ‘disappointed’ with his performance.

Consequently, Slot was questioned during his pre-Crystal Palace press conference regarding the form of his No.9.

“To be completely honest, which I prefer, most of our goals have come from our wingers,” stated the Liverpool manager.

“This might be something we need to consider. While we have scored many goals, we need to position our strikers, whether it’s Diogo or Darwin, to be in better scoring positions.”

Who will feature against Crystal Palace?

With the rest of the Liverpool squad at full strength, it appeared that Nunez only started against Bologna due to Jota’s injury.

Had Liverpool’s No.20 been fit, it is likely that Nunez would have found himself on the bench once more.

However, following Nunez’s underwhelming performance at Anfield, it seems that a recovered Jota will start against Crystal Palace.

Nunez is expected to come off the bench, but unless he can respond to Slot’s expectations and score a goal or two, he may struggle to regain a starting position after the international break.

On the other hand, if Jota does not find his scoring form soon, there may still be an opportunity for Darwin.