With his goal against Toulouse last night, Darwin Nunez moved above the 20-goal mark for Liverpool, putting him in exclusive company.
Nunez scored in his 54th game for the club, making him one of just 10 players to score 20 goals or more in less games for the club.
The Uruguayan scored his fifth goal of the season with a great, calm finish with his weaker foot, and he also has four assists. He is in fantastic form to start the new campaign.
After signing for £64m (with £21m in add-ons), the 24-year-old has not been able to establish himself as the club’s main center back. After a shaky rookie year, he appears to be settling into a groove this season, and he is benefiting from Liverpool’s potent assault and a more technically adept midfield.
Not a terrible group, the previous 10 players to achieve 20 in fewer club appearances: Diogo Jota (46), Luis Suárez (49), and Stan Collymore (49). Salah (26), Sadio Mané (44), Emilio Heskey (44), Michael Owen (38), Robbie Fowler (36), Fernando Torres (31), and Daniel Sturridge (26).
The fact that Suarez took almost as long as Nunez to get there is the list’s most intriguing element. However, he had two great seasons after that, scoring a combined 61 goals in 2012–13 and 2013–14.
Maybe Nunez can replicate that success. Klopp is showing greater faith in the former Benfica man now that Cody Gakpo is his backup, and the player appears to have made noticeable technical advancements.
However, his first run to dribble and push past the final defender before displaying the poise to round the keeper was superb, even if the finish was missing, and fans will refer to that as evidence of his amazing miss last night, which was eventually put in by Ryan Gravenberch.
His goal last night was excellent, as he showed good vision and composure with his initial touch to create space in the area before calmly rifling the ball into the top corner with his less dominant foot.
With any luck, he’ll get a run this month leading up to the game against Manchester City that will allow him to add to his goal total, and given his current form, we anticipate that he will.
