Ferdinand & McManaman have seen enough from £140k-p/w Liverpool player; was ‘excellent’ against RB Leipzig

Mo Salah may feel slightly aggrieved that the spotlight was taken away from him by Darwin Nunez in Germany.

Otherwise, you could forgive the Egyptian returning to Merseyside in a jubilant mood as Liverpool secured their 11th win in 12 games under new boss Arne Slot.

One goal was all it took to secure maximum points in a terse encounter with RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

The Reds next face Arsenal in a Premier League clash on Sunday afternoon on October 27.

Steve McManaman says Darwin Nunez was excellent

What’s not to love about Darwin Nunez’s latest showing in the famous red shirt?

The No.9 hasn’t been at the races as far as his goal contributions are concerned this term. Nonetheless, there will surely be little in the way of complaint from his manager after the Uruguayan matched his hard work with the winning goal at the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday.

Steve McManaman and Rio Ferdinand certainly agreed that the footballer was in ‘excellent’ form in the first half of action in Germany.

“Again, Darwin Nunez works hard. He made that penalty himself. Or what we expect it should have been,” the former Red spoke on TNT Sports’ coverage.

“He does that himself just by hard work and running and chasing down lost causes. He’s been excellent in this first half.”

His 45-year-old co-pundit likewise concurred: “Yeah, he has.”

"I don't know how VAR have looked at this and said 'play on!'"

Rio Ferdinand and Steve McManaman were shocked that Liverpool weren't given a first-half penalty ?

? @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/UoEugqrPSA

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 23, 2024

How many goals has Darwin Nunez scored in 2024/25?

Okay, there’s most certainly room for improvement in the goalscoring department.

Darwin Nunez, on a reported £140,000-a-week according to Capology, now finds himself on two goals after his latest outing at Leipzig. It takes him to three goal contributions in nine games for the season.

Those numbers do somewhat distort reality, of course, given the former Penarol striker has only played 441 minutes in total. So, in actuality, he’s registering a goal or assist every 147 minutes this term.

Not earth-shattering numbers, though it doesn’t harm his overall rate of a goal contribution every 110.05 minutes throughout his entire Liverpool stay too much.

Pundit will call for more regardless given the £64m price tag the Reds forked out back in 2022. However, a little context wouldn’t hurt any debate over the 25-year-old’s continued value to the Anfield-based outfit.