Liverpool’s £200,000/week goalscoring menace, Darwin Nunez, will be ‘targeted’ claims Alan Shearer, suggesting some players will revel in trying to provoke him after his Crystal Palace red card.
The Reds have had a stuttering start and part of that may be down to their new summer signing getting himself recklessly sent off in the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace earlier this season.
Shearer claims that Nunez has sent out a blueprint of how to deal with the striker – looking to frustrate and annoy the Uruguayan could lead to more reckless outbursts from the forward.
Having sat out a few games, Nunez returned to the line-up against Everton and went close with a fierce right-footed strike but was denied by the brilliance of Jordan Pickford on the day.
Klopp on Darwin Nunez:
"He is really happy to be back. I always give him a high five but I gave him a slap on the neck so he remembers! His English hasn't improved that much in 15 days, though!" pic.twitter.com/9LRvW4RnQk
— DaveOCKOP (@DaveOCKOP) September 2, 2022
Shearer on Nunez
The current PL top scorer of all time gave his striking insight into how Nunez could potentially be targeted from now on, following his reckless red card against Crystal Palace earlier this season.
“[Darwin Nunez will be targeted] It is not only going to happen (against Everton),” the Premier League great said.
“It is going to happen in the future as well because a little crack has appeared. If you didn’t already know with Nunez then you saw the reaction with Joachim Anderson.
“So it is going to happen, he is going to get wound up, people have seen now that he has got that little chink in his armour – that he can be pushed to breaking point.
📺 Jurgen Klopp on Darwin Nunez’s missed chances:
“He had the start-stop integration, that’s how it is. We play all the time, that means we cannot train constantly, he was suspended in a week when we had two or three normal-ish sessions.” 🔴 pic.twitter.com/xEbPf32Cpn
— Anfield Watch (@AnfieldWatch) September 3, 2022
“Some great players, this is what makes them tick. They have got that little bit of devil in them. They enjoy it and get a kick out of that.”
The Reds return to the Champions League this week against Napoli – a competition in which Nunez starred in last year. His six goals in 10 games ultimately secured him a move to Anfield.
He scored home and away against Liverpool but also managed big goals against Ajax and Barcelona too. He’ll be hoping to fire in his first European goals for the club and pick u where he left off last year.
Liverpool will need him to fire straight away given that the Reds have lost their last two games away in Naples. Nunez’s return, coupled with Thiago, Diogo Jota and Joel Matip returning should help the Reds to re-discover their form.
