Former Liverpool striker Neil Mellor is expecting Darwin Nunez to get off the mark very quickly into his Reds career.
Having taken a look at the Premier League fixtures for 2022/23, Mellor told Sky Sports that he thinks the new Liverpool man will score early.
“The first three home games of the season, you’re looking at it and thinking, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Newcastle. For a new singing, for a new centre-forward, he wants to get a goal early,” said Mellor.
“You’re looking at those fixtures and thinking you’ve got every chance to get off the mark nice and early. He’s a top talent, he’s got huge potential, scored a lot of goals last season for Benfica. With the chances this Liverpool team creates, you wouldn’t bet against him scoring in one of those games early on.”
While few games are easy in the Premier League, that does look a kind-ish run of home fixtures for Liverpool. With the opening day coming away at Fulham, hopefully Nunez can even get off the mark before then.
No need to rush Darwin’s evolution
It’s never an easy thing to predict the results of a new season. Even less so to predict just how a new signing will slot into a different side.
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Nunez looks a pretty sure bet for goals though, after plundering 34 last campaign for Benfica.
Crucially, he also has a full pre-season prior to the big kick-off. Liverpool have got their big business done nice and early, and there’ll be hope that by the time August 6th rolls around, he’s already fully immersed.
If not, there’s no need to panic. As Jurgen Klopp was keen to point out after Nunez’s unveiling on Tuesday, the forward is still just 22-years-old.
He’s very much a work-in-progress and, despite his price-tag, should be treated as such.
It may be that Nunez isn’t even in Liverpool’s team throughout the season’s opening. The Reds aren’t short of forward options and Klopp might prefer to give him the time to acclimatise away from the spotlight.
With Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota to count on as well as Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah, goals shouldn’t be something Liverpool have to worry about.