Jurgen Klopp defended Darwin Nunez after the striker spurned a plethora of chances in Liverpool’s victory over Newcastle United.
The Reds ran out 4-2 winners to move three points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Mo Salah fired a double, while Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo were on target. Liverpool had 34 shots throughout the encounter, with 15 on target, and recorded the highest expected goals total (7.27) of a single Premier League game since record started.
Nunez had eight of those efforts but he could not find a way past Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka. The Uruguay international, signed for an initial fee of £64 million from Benfica in July 2022, has netted only one goal in his previous 14 Reds appearances, although he did selflessly assist Salah to break the deadlock.
Regardless of failing to score, Klopp highlighted how Nunez kept Newcastle centre-back duo Sven Botman and Fabian Schar occupied during the game – and is not worried by the 24-year-old.
The Liverpool manager told Sky Sports: “Of course, he’s not happy with not scoring. I saw him involved. Football is a pretty simple game, put the ball in the back of the net but that boys have to do a lot of stuff besides that. He kept Botman and Schar together. We needed him there. As long as Darwin has these moments then it’s all fine. Darwin will score. Social media is a bit of a disturbance slightly. No-one has to worry about Darwin. He played a really good game with a really unselfish pass to Mo and he scored a goal.”
