We’re going to have to talk about Darwin Nunez, because his first few months in England have been fascinating. Erling Haaland has had 59 shots and Nunez has had 52; that’s a good place to start because everything else about their records are different.
Firstly, Nunez’s 52 shots have come in only 784 league minutes (compared to Haaland’s 1,217). In shots per 90 terms, Nunez is so far ahead of anyone else it is laughable. He has taken 5.99 shots per 90 minutes played – second is Aleksandar Mitrovic on 4.53. Spread Nunez’s total across a 38-game season and you get 228; Mohamed Salah had the most shots in the Premier League last season, with 133.
But Haaland has scored 21 goals from his 59 shots and Nunez has scored five from his 52. That’s partly because of where those shots are taken from: Nunez’s average shot distance is 15.5 vs 12.5 for Haaland and the average quality of his chance is significantly lower. But then Nunez’s average chance quality is better than Mitrovic’s average and the Fulham striker has double the number of goals.
There’s no escaping it: some of Nunez’s finishing has been quite bad. In terms of overperforming (or underperforming) expected goals totals (how many goals players have scored according to the quality of their chances), Haaland unsurprisingly ranks first by a distance. Nunez ranks 466 out of 480.
There are three possible conclusions here (and the fascinating part is that nobody can tell which is right with total accuracy): 1) Nunez is going to explode into goalscoring form because the finishing will come and the number of chances will stay roughly the same, 2) Nunez’s finishing is going to frustrate Jurgen Klopp soon (although Klopp insists otherwise) or 3) Nunez is going to have to start being more selective with his shooting and, if not, Liverpool are going to have to get the ball to him in better areas.
This is an extract of The Score, Daniel Storey’s weekly verdict on all 20 Premier League teams’ performances. Sign up to receive the free newsletter on Monday mornings here
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