Darwin Núñez of Liverpool gestures during the Champions League Round 2 match between RB Leipzig v Liverpool, Red Bull Arena Pundits Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker have criticised the finishing of Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez.
Image: Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto/NurPhoto via AFP
Darwin Nunez may just be the weak link in the Liverpool attack, if the opinions of Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker hold any water.
On paper, the weekend went well for Liverpool and their Uruguayan forward as they beat Aston Villa 2-0 with Nunez scoring the opener.
Mohamed Salah made the scoreline more comfortable just before full time, as The Reds opened up a five-point gap at the top of the Premier League table over champions Manchester City.
The tall, powerful 25-year-old now has two goals in eight league appearances for Liverpool this season. Overall, Nunez has scored 22 goals with 12 assists in his three seasons with Liverpool.
Against Villa, Nunez had six chances and scored one before he was replaced in the second half.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Lineker said to Shearer: "Darwin Nunez got his goal, didn't he? He's a handful, a bit erratic but a handful.”
Shearer responded: "Without doubt, his pace is a great strength and he's always going to cause defenders problems. This is a really clever finish. Now, if only you could say that so many other times about him because he's very erratic and his finishing at times is poor, and that will frustrate some.
"On the positive side, he never, ever stops getting in there and you have to admire that. He links up really, really well with Mo Salah.
He's got 22 goals in 73 appearances in the Premier League for Liverpool but it could, and should, be a whole lot more because he does miss big chances, like this one.”
Analysing a specific Nunez move, Shearer said: "Watch his movement here; his movement is excellent, the way he spins and gets himself in there to create that space for him. But he should have been putting that in the back of the net.
"I just think he's better when he doesn't have time to think about it and it happens naturally. When he has that three or four seconds to think about it, he becomes more erratic.”
Whether there was potential for improvement from Nunez, Shearer ultimately was not convinced.
"You've got to practice, practice, practice.
"But I'm not sure that's going to get better. He will have times where you think that he's improved massively and he's scoring goals for a month, very streaky."