Liverpool chalked up their eighth win in nine games so far this season on Wednesday night when they saw off Bologna 2-0 in the Champions League.
Goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah sealed this latest win which sees Liverpool joint top of the new Champions League table, while they also sit at the peak of the Premier League, a point ahead of Manchester City.
Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez (Image credit: Getty Images)
Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez made his second start of the new season, following a summer that saw his future at the club widely debated after a poor end of the 2023/24 season.
The Uruguayan has often been a figure of frustration for many at Liverpool, with fans getting behind his work ethic, but questioning his decision-making. This was again a talking point on Wednesday when he had a goal disallowed after failing to hold his run in the first half.
The 25-year-old missed a couple more chances and that was enough to the Italian press to level more criticism his way. Corriere dello Sport claimed that Nunez was always ‘on the edge of offside’, as they handed him a 5.5 player rating, while the forward was dubbed ‘not very effective’ by La Gazzetta dello Sport, who labelled him as ‘the worst’ Liverpool player on display.
He added ‘little substance’ to Liverpool’s play, said La Repubblica, who also awarded him 5.5 out of ten.
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Nunez has netted just once since April, but Slot was quick to defend his player after the victory.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say he only scored one [goal since April] because you also have to look at the playing time,” Slot said. “I think this was his third start of the season so I don’t look at it in the way you do and only focus on the individual.
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“I think in the first hour we didn’t create lot of chances for him because we missed out on the last pass on a number of occasions. If we would have done better, that probably would have led to chances for him as well.
“It was a great goal against Bournemouth and today he was involved against a team we faced that was really hard and tough on him, and his team-mates didn’t always find him when they could have.
“It’s a bit early after only three starts to say he only scored one goal.”
