The momentum that Liverpool had built up from three straight wins against Rangers, Manchester City and West Ham United came to a halt when the goals ran out at the City Ground.
There is no doubt that the Merseysiders have been hit hard by injuries – Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz are big misses up the front line, which has certainly hampered the club’s attacking prowess.
The return of Darwin Nunez to the fore in Amsterdam, after Jurgen Klopp confirmed that the Uruguayan ‘is available’ in his pre-match press conference, is welcome in that regard.
Looking at just our No. 27, the man the former Dortmund manager branded a ‘machine’ (courtesy of Liverpool’s official YouTube channel), shot rate (courtesy of official Premier League stats) compared with fellow goalscorers Mo Salah and Bobby Firmino may offer some insight as to why the German’s men struggled to score goals against Nottingham Forest:
Mo Salah (11 league games)
36 shots – 3.27 shots per game
0.27 goals per game
Firmino (10 league games)
26 shots – 2.6 shots per game
0.60 goals per match
Núñez (seven league games)
28 shots – four shots per game
0.43 goals per game
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It’s worth noting that the Brazilian hitman’s goal-per-match rate is somewhat inflated by his world-class performance against Bournemouth.
Not that it should count against him, but a third of his total league goals have come in one game, while Nunez’s domestic efforts have been spread over three games.
This is an impeccably basic description, one that certainly doesn’t factor lost playmaker Thiago Alcantara into the equation either.
Still, it can’t be ignored that our visit to Nottingham produced the fewest shots in total of our last four games (in all competitions).
With a higher goals per game rate than Salah, we ideally want the former Peñarol player to be available and in the box as often as possible.
Ep63 of The Empire of the Kop podcast: Klopp’s ridiculous accusations of xenophobia, Núñez shining… and more!
