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Red-hot Darwin Nunez is finally escaping Erling Haaland’s shadow after netting FIVE in four games for Liverpool, but will he get the better of his Man City rival? How the stats compare as the two hitmen face off at Anfield.
Darwin Nunez was the subject of plenty of ridicule last season but the £85million striker has been silencing his critics this time around.
The Uruguayan joined Liverpool in the summer of 2022, the same summer in which Erling Haaland made his move to Man City.
Naturally that led to comparisons between the two forwards with fans debating which of the Premier League giants had made the better purchase.
That debate quickly fizzled out as Haaland took the Premier League by storm while Nunez struggled in his new surroundings.
Haaland would go on break goal scoring records as he helped Pep Guardiola‘s side claim a historic Treble while Nunez was best remembered for a host of glaring misses in what was a miserable season for the Reds.
However, those who actually watched Liverpool games rather than viral social media clips could see that there was a dangerous player in Nunez.
Chants of ‘Nunez, Nunez, Nunez’ were a constant throughout last season at Anfield with Reds supporters recognizing his work rate and ability to get into threatening positions.
And the former Benfica man has started to make the most of those positions after a what was a slow start to the campaign.
Nunez’s brilliant brace against Sparta Prague on Thursday night means he’s now surpassed his goal tally from last season in all competitions.
The Uruguay international has 16 goals and 11 assists in 39 appearances with Liverpool still harbouring hopes of a quadruple in Jurgen Klopp’s farewell season.
Nunez is hitting form at just the right time with eight in his last 10 outings ahead of this Sunday’s mammoth top-of-the-table six pointer with City.
And they’re often big goals too. In fact, according to Opta no Premier League player has scored more match-winning goals this season, the latest of those coming in the 99th minute against Nottingham Forest.
Haaland, meanwhile, has continued to put up ridiculous numbers with 29 goals and six assists in 32 games but he hasn’t been quite the the same lethal or inevitable presence he was last term.
The Norwegian ranks No 1 for big chances missed in this season’s Premier League, five clear of second-placed Nunez.
Haaland still leads the race for the Golden Boot but no one can deny that he gets better service than Nunez in a City team that always dominates possession and creates chances at will.
Yet, when looking at how the two strikers compare with regards to xG, the situation is closer than you might expect.
Haaland is currently underperforming his xG by 3.89 goals while Nunez is underperforming by 4.26.
The reality is that the Reds man may not be the most clinical striker but that is levelled out by his ability to put himself in dangerous positions more regularly.
Injury issues have meant that Nunez has also played significantly fewer minutes and this is reflected when examining the minutes-per-goal contribution of the Uruguayan and Haaland.
Haaland still edges it but it’s close. The City man averaging a goal or an assist every 80 minutes in the top flight while it’s 88 for Nunez.
And while Haaland’s form is stagnating somewhat Nunez’s is only getting better.
Speaking on Thursday, Klopp was confident there is plenty more to come.
‘He has the most important attitude a striker needs to have; he missed chances but all strikers are doing that but he is not bothered by it and just keeps going.
‘That’s why he now has a nice number of goals, games to come, opportunities to come.
‘When he’s not scoring he for us is incredibly important as he is a constant threat and gives us spaces in areas and options.’
‘Wonderful guy, wonderful boy. He loves to play for this team together with these boys and has quality coming out of his ears, to be honest.
‘It’s like strikers are, they score and then they don’t score. Is he at his absolute peak in general? Not now for us. But can he develop? Yes. Is he a threat all the time? Yes.’
Is he a bigger threat than Haaland? We’ll find out at Anfield.
