Prematurely written off earlier in the campaign, Sam McGuire explains why Darwin Nunez is key to Liverpool qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Liverpool have been far from their best this season but the 7-0 dismantling of Manchester United has moved them to within three points off of a top four spot (best price 21/20 for a top four finish) with a game in hand.
Incredibly, they are the form team in the Premier League right now having taken 13 points from the last 15 on offer. They haven’t conceded a goal in their last five outings and have scored 13 times.
Instrumental to this upturn in form has been Darwin Nunez.
He has three goals and an assist in his last four Premier League appearances for the Reds and his double against Manchester United on Sunday took his tally to eight in the Premier League. The 23-year-old isn’t hitting numbers to rival Erling Haaland (1/25 to finish as the league’s top scorer) just yet but he is going quietly under the radar.
Darwin has 11 goal involvements in 19 appearances in the English top flight and he’s chipping in with a goal or an assist every 111 minutes. This sort of output is even more impressive when you consider he’s been part of a team in transition for large periods.
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Injuries have forced Jurgen Klopp to change things up on what feels like a monthly basis while the loss of form to key midfielders only exacerbated the situation. The point is, Anfield has not been a place for a young player to develop this season in what is his first season with the club.
This was a team trying to find its identity while bedding in a very raw forward in Darwin. There were always going to be some teething problems and yet the Liverpool No. 27 has still managed to impact games. Quite a few of them if we’re being honest.
Deployed on the left of a front three following the arrival of Cody Gakpo during the winter transfer window, Darwin has looked dangerous attacking the space created by the Dutch international. With Liverpool reverting back to a false-nine system, the former Benfica man has been freed from having to defend central areas without the ball.
Though a willing runner, he didn’t yet have the game intelligence to know when and where to press as part of this team and he isn’t necessarily a link player with the skill set to link midfield to attack. Shoehorning him into such a role didn’t benefit him or the player. What often happened was Liverpool were reliant on him to do something out of nothing.
Now the attack looks functional and fluid. This isn’t the best version of Darwin yet but Liverpool fans are seeing what looks to be more of a cohesive unit and they’re all the better for it.
With a solid base, these goal contributions now mean more. Darwin assisted the opener against Everton and then scored the opener against Newcastle. He also got Liverpool off the mark versus Real Madrid in the Champions League, though that game didn’t go to plan.
Overturning a 5-2 scoreline against the reigning European champions, away from home, will be difficult but not impossible (Liverpool are a best price 20/1 to qualify for the quarter-finals). Not for a team that has hit seven or more goals in a single match on three occasions this term. Not for a team whose strikers have all found form at the same time.
The Reds are by no means Darwin FC but he has played his role in getting them up the table over recent weeks. He was prematurely written off earlier in the campaign but he could be one of the players to fire Liverpool into the Champions League when all looked lost in January.
