Liverpool put one foot in the quarter-finals with a dominant away win over Sparta Prague last night.
The trip to the Czech Republic had looked like a tricky one on paper, with Sparta boasting a supreme home record. But Liverpool made light of that, coming away as 5-1 winners.
One man who was responsible for the Reds’ victory being as convincing as it was, was Darwin Nunez. Having battered in two lovely goals, Nunez was well worth the praise that came his way from Sparta boss Brian Priske after the match.
And more praise was lavished on him by former Liverpool striker Michael Owen. Speaking to TNT Sports after the game, Owen claimed that although he still has a lot to improve on, Nunez could become the Reds’ very own Harry Kane or Erling Haaland.
“I think it’s a massive challenge for the coaching staff at Liverpool that will obviously change in the summer. Because I think you can coach a lot into him and make him an even better player,” the pundit explained.
“You’d have egg on your face if you tried to predict the future with him. He could be anything, he could be a 30, 35 [goals per season], he could be a Haaland, a Kane in terms of the numbers if he gets his game in the right order. At the moment he’s still a frustration in certain times, but you can’t be without him, he does so many good things that you just have to keep playing him and take the rough with the smooth.”
Owen makes Nunez prediction
You could certainly see Nunez breaking the 30 or 35 goal barrier in the near future for Liverpool. Even with the rawness still in his game this year, he now has 16 in 2023/24.
On a hot streak and with at least 13 games to go, there is a chance that he even gets near to that 30-goal mark this season.
Having bagged 15 in his debut campaign last year, that would be a big improvement. Regardless of exactly how many he ends up with, Darwin is heading in the right direction. Quickly. As Jurgen Klopp said after last night’s game, the Uruguayan still has potential to unlock.
Of course, he still has a way to go before he can think about tallying with the likes of Kane. The Bayern Munich striker has been in remarkable form in Germany this season. 33 goals in 33 games after his summer move from Tottenham.
With a chunk of the season left to play, Kane will have designs on hitting the first 50-goal season of his career. That is truly elite.
Haaland is another who Nunez is always likely to be compared against. The Norwegian hasn’t been quite as prolific this year but still has 29 goals for Manchester City.
Coming up against modern day freaks of goal-scoring, few will be demanding that Liverpool’s No.9 matches these two anytime soon. But he’s certainly showing signs that he could be up there with them next season.
As Owen also points out though, there’s still every chance Nunez goes the other way. Without the guiding hand of Jurgen Klopp it’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out. For now though, Darwin is delivering in a big way.
