Liverpool have one of the best attacking units in world football, and they have for some time.
Indeed, while Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane were the iconic trio for a long time, that trio has transformed into a quintet with Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Diogo Jota all playing key roles along with Darwin Nunez and, of course, Mohamed Salah.
Nunez was the man of the hour at the weekend with his two goals against Brentford, and Nunez received big praise after the game.
However, writing in his column for Sportskeeda, Paul Merson has shared a differing verdict.
Indeed, Merson says that he actually wouldn’t start Nunez for Liverpool this weekend, claiming that Mohamed Salah actually plays worse when Nunez is on the pitch.
Darwin Nunez makes Mohamed Salah worse
Merson shared his verdict on this partnership.
The pundit reckons that Nunez is actually affecting Salah’s game when he plays, stating that the game often looks claustrophobic for Salah when the Uruguayan is leading the line.
“I know Darwin Nunez produced an incredible cameo off the bench against Brentford. But I’m still now sure he should start this game as the centre-forward. Mohamed Salah is a better player when Nunez is not in the team! Nunez stays up front and when he does that, it makes Salah a bit claustrophobic in my opinion,” Merson wrote.
“When it’s open play, Nunez is a good player. We saw that against Brentford at the end when it was like a basketball game with end-to-end action. In a game like the next one against Ipswich, where the visitors are likely to put 10 men behind the ball, I don’t think it’s wise to play Nunez.
Mohamed Salah record alongside Darwin Nunez
Merson says that Salah isn’t as good when Nunez plays, but, interestingly, the numbers don’t reflect that.
Indeed, Salah scored just as many goals when Nunez plays as when he doesn’t. In fact, he scores slightly more often when Nunez plays.
Salah has previously praised Nunez for his speed and ability to find space, so the Egyptian clearly does like playing with the Uruguay star.
“He loves to run in the space. He’s really, really fast,” Salah said.
“He keeps looking at me because he knows I can give him the ball easily in the space that he can finish the situation.”
Contrary to what Merson says, Nunez and Salah are a fantastic partnership, and perhaps this is something Liverpool can use in order to bolster their chances of winning the Premier League title.
