After a busy Thursday, Liverpool players continued their international excursions on Friday.
The Reds had six more members of the first-team squad in action for their senior national side across Friday evening and the early hours of Saturday.
Perhaps the most interesting of these was Darwin Nunez. It had initially been expected that Nunez would be banned for Uruguay’s fixtures against Peru and Ecuador.
There were even reports that Liverpool had prepared a behind-closed-doors friendly during the break specifically to get Nunez more up to speed.
In the end, that was not needed. With Uruguay appealing the 25-year-old’s ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, he has been cleared to play for La Celeste in the meantime.
Given his need for minutes, this will have potentially been good news for Liverpool. And after Nunez got 90 minutes under his belt during Uruguay’s 1-0 loss to Peru early on Saturday morning, his nation’s press have delivered their verdict on his performance.
Darwin Nunez plays well despite defeat
It has not been a happy season for Nunez at Anfield so far. The No.9 has started only one game in the Premier League under Arne Slot.
As a result, there have been suggestions this week that Liverpool are ready to sell Nunez this summer.
With Omar Marmoush potentially being lined up as Nunez’s successor, the former Benfica hitman really needs to start showing his quality once again.
And according to Uruguayan outlet El Observador, Darwin did that to an extent against Peru.
READ MORE: Colombian national media not impressed by Luis Diaz’s display against Bolivia
The loss in Lima is described by the paper as being ‘the worst game of their qualifying campaign’ but it sounds like Nunez tried his best to turn that around.
Given a six out of ten, which is far superior than some of his teammates, the Liverpool striker is said to have ‘starred’ in a counterattack early into the game, but Real Madrid midfielder Fede Valverde could not convert.
Nunez reportedly then went close with a header, but could not beat Peru goalkeeper Pedro Gallese.
Interestingly, it sounds like the striker was ultimately let down by his teammates. Nunez is claimed to have ‘tried but drowned in his intentions’ as the rest of the Uruguayan team never got up to scratch.
Darwin Nunez on the comeback trail
Although Uruguay lost and there was no goal for Nunez, this still sounds like it was an encouraging display from the Liverpool man.
Darwin clearly feels more at home with his national team than he does back on Merseyside and so hopefully being in that atmosphere and playing the 90 minutes will stand him in good stead.
Having not played too much for Liverpool so far this season, it will be interesting to see whether Marcelo Bielsa thinks his fitness is good enough to start again when Uruguay face Ecuador early on Wednesday morning.
Obviously, there is the constant worry over injuries to the Liverpool squad during the international break. But we’d argue that it is much more beneficial to the Reds if Bielsa chucks Nunez in from the start once again.
Things don’t look to be heading in the right way for Darwin, but if he can get his match fitness back to where it needs to be, he can still make an impact and save his Liverpool career. Saturday morning’s performance sounds like a small step in the right direction.
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