On international duty, a Liverpool player has drawn attention after enthralling Federico Valverde of Real Madrid and averaging more goals and assists per game than Mohamed Salah.
After the international break, Liverpool’s stars are now all returning home to begin the club season.
The Reds will face a challenging test at Everton on Saturday.
The early kickoff time and some of the players’ delayed flights back from South America will make it difficult for Liverpool to pass this test, even though they have the necessary skills to do so.
Everything had gone according to plan for Jürgen Klopp up until Liverpool’s loss at Tottenham.
The Reds have, however, lost a little of their momentum since their defeat at Spurs, and that was evident in the final game before the break when Liverpool lost more ground at Brighton.
Mohamed Salah, who has been outstanding this season as usual, was without a doubt the game’s best player.
He dominated the opposition and scored goals with abandon, as he has done on numerous occasions. He has amply supported Liverpool’s decision to resist the allure of lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia and has demonstrated that he is still very much a talisman in this team.
But this time, Liverpool has garnered headlines for more than just the Egyptian.
Fans are beginning to see the emergence of a potential new star ready to replace Salah, who some might argue is performing better this year, as Klopp builds his Liverpool 2.0.
Federico Valverde Darwin Nunez currently has 11 goals this season, one more than Mo Salah’s 10 goals for club and country.
The Uruguayan’s performance is even more impressive when you break those numbers down to per minutes played.
Salah “only” averages a goal or an assist every 102 minutes for club and country, while Nunez averages a goal contribution every 70 minutes for Liverpool and Uruguay this season.
The Egyptian experienced a small step back from last season, when he averaged one goal assist every 93 minutes.
For Nunez, meanwhile, this is a return to form, the same averages that he was putting up at Benfica before moving to Anfield, where he averaged a goal contribution every 74 minutes in his previous season.
Salah averaged one goal-related contribution every 68.6 minutes during Liverpool’s 2017–18 season, which was his best-ever season.
The Uruguayan’s return at the club level this season has been at every 67.2 minutes, which is now very close to what Nunez is averaging for Liverpool.
The Uruguayan was once again on fire during the international break, contributing significantly to his nation’s historic victory over Brazil for the first time in 22 years.
In response to Nunez Instagram post of his highlight reel from the game, Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde wrote, “This is insane,” clearly mesmerized by the Liverpool forward’s performance.
Salah’s successor must inevitably emerge, and given that Nunez has performed “better” than the Egyptian in terms of goal contributions per minute played this season, there may be a change of leadership at Anfield. Salah has served as the Kop’s King for many years, but a new prince is getting ready to take his place.
