(Liverpool – Chelsea 4-1) Four hits in the metal in one match. Eight all season. Liverpool's Darwin Nunez (24 years old) appears to be the unluckiest player in the Premier League.
Since the 2003/2004 season, sports data company Opta has kept statistics on the number of posts and crossbar hits during matches. During that period, no player succeeded in hitting the metal “trick.” Four times in 90 minutes.
Before Darwin Nunez did it for the league leaders against Chelsea on Wednesday night.
The Uruguayan is not a mystery at all.
This season, he has scored seven goals and made seven assists in the Premier League. If all eight shots from the post and crossbar had hit the back of the net all season, he would have had a total of 15 hits.
Erling Braut Haaland and Mohamed Salah top the scorers list with 14 goals.
On Wednesday, Nunez missed his first penalty kick in his football career when it hit the post and went out in the first half.
– He was very disappointed with himself for missing the penalty, but he's a “handful”. It was very difficult for him. Then he headed his header against the crossbar. It's easy to score a goal even after a big disappointment. This is the most important thing, says manager Jurgen Klopp to the BBC.
The outgoing Liverpool coach confirms after the 4-1 victory over Chelsea, where youngster Connor Bradley was the big hero:
Darwin is doing great, but he's still a bit unlucky. So things are going well.
Graphics: www.sofascore.com
Viaplay expert Lars Tjærnås commented on the match.
“I can’t remember anyone with bigger margins over time,” football expert Lars Tiarnas wrote in an SMS to VG, before continuing:
– But it's much worse with strikers and players who end up having bad luck, because they are rarely where they should be.
Watch the Liverpool striker's finishing touches in the metal match against Chelsea at the top of the story!
Against Chelsea, Núñez had eleven shot attempts without hitting the back of the net. Elsewhere, the 24-year-old got another assist when he set up Luis Diaz to make it 4-1.
– He is of enormous value to Liverpool. Tjærnås says his contribution tonight and in leading the league is tremendous.
The former coach reassures those who may be concerned about the Liverpool striker's performance in front of goal:
– Results will come.
Núñez has saved twelve of the twelve penalties in his career.
But then the breakthrough came in the match against Chelsea. In this post. It was his 12th place in the metal overall this season in all competitions.
Despite the impressive record and all the strikes, the striker has scored eleven goals in 33 appearances in all competitions so far this season.
He also has eleven assists:
Graphics: www.sofascore.com
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