Darwin Nunez handed Arne Slot snub as Liverpool boss claims Reds have two ‘more logical number 9s’
DARWIN NUNEZ did not get a rousing vote of confidence from Arne Slot after he revealed Diogo Jota will be missing for weeks.
It appears the mercurial Uruguayan is THIRD in manager Slot’s pecking order of Liverpool’s No 9s.
Jota looks unlikely to return until after November’s internationals amid abdominal damage suffered in the 2–1 win over Chelsea ten days ago.
And Federico Chiesa could be out for even longer as the £10million arrival from Juventus is struggling following a series of niggling injuries.
Yet Slot says he would have turned to the Italian — and not £64m man Nunez — in the absence of Jota.
The Dutchman starts a run of four games in 11 days before the next international break with a Carabao Cup trip to Brighton.
And Slot admitted: “It is a pity that Jota is not available.
“And Chiesa is also not available as they were, in my opinion, the most logical No 9s but we still have other options.”
One possibility there is Nunez, who has played in the main striker’s role for the last three games, scoring in the 1–0 Champions League win over RB Leipzig.
But Kop boss Slot, who had only started him in two of the ten previous games since taking over from Jurgen Klopp, admits he is “worried” about the loss of Jota and Chiesa ahead of a punishing spell.
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Former Feyenoord gaffer Slot brushed off suggestions Chiesa could return to Italy on loan in January.
And he was not jumping for joy at being forced to turn to Nunez, who has just 35 goals in 106 appearances since arriving from Benfica more than two years ago.
Slot added: “About Darwin, I gave him credit for the fact he worked so hard in previous weeks when he didn’t play a lot to be able to play three games in a row.
“Three games in eight days, so that says a lot about him.
“But it also says a lot about the quality of our performance staff and medical staff that we were able to give him the right sessions to prepare him in the right way.
“You always need the player to buy in because you can give him the right sessions but if he doesn’t give everything then it is very difficult for him to do what he did.”
Slot also points to the fact that Nunez had a five-game international ban revoked having joined team-mates to battle rioting Colombian fans after his country’s Copa America semi-final defeat in August.
He played against Peru and Ecuador last month, with Slot saying: “It was a good thing his ban for the Uruguay team was cancelled so he could play.
“That has probably really helped him to play the way that he did in the last three games.
“I’m not talking about the quality he played with, but the intensity he played with. The quality was also good — so that was a positive thing.”
Slot is planning on making changes on Wednesday night as Liverpool host Brighton in the Prem on Saturday, as well as ex-Kop hero Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League before a visit from Aston Villa.
Seagulls boss Fabian Hurzeler is without defender Lewis Dunk who has a “small muscle issue” and conceded his captain is “not easy to replace”.
Hurzeler added: “He’s a great healer, so we have to go day by day. For sure, we can’t take any risks with him — but he’s keen on coming back as soon as possible.”