'Isn't at the level' - Jose Enrique blasts Liverpool forward and makes bold admission

Former defender Jose Enrique has questioned whether Darwin Nunez is good enough for Liverpool.

The Uruguayan has improved massively on his first season in England and is currently on 18 goals and 13 assists in all competitions. Overall, it has been a successful season and Liverpool’s entire front five have all scored a minimum of 10 goals but Nunez remains second for big chances missed in the Premier League.

The frustrations came to a boil following their 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace as Liverpool built up an expected goal figure of 2.97 and had 21 shots in total. He missed one big chance and should have scored after a favourable deflection from a corner in the second-half - and those moments could be the difference in the title race as Jurgen Klopp’s side now trail Manchester City by two points with six games left.

Speaking exclusively to Grosvenor Sport, Enrique claims that Nunez’s lack of potency in front of goal is not enough to fire Liverpool to trophy success: “There is too much space opening up for other sides playing against Liverpool, but that is not the biggest problem. They are simply missing too many chances. It is not possible to win the Premier League when you miss as many chances as they do, especially when you aren’t too strong defensively and concede a lot of chances at your own end.

“Darwin Nunez is simply not at the required level and he never has been. He is a good player, I like him a lot and the fans love him, but he isn’t at the level of some of Liverpool’s best forwards from the past. He is a good player but he is not a Liverpool number nine. He could play for a lot of top teams in Europe, but he is not good enough for those that are challenging for trophies.

“Their old front three was one of the world’s best and now this current team only really has two goalscorers – Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota. Cody Gakpo is not a goalscorer and he won’t get you 20 goals every season like Sadio Mane and Salah did. Roberto Firmino wasn’t a player to score that may goals, but he gave you so much more outside of that. Darwin Nunez gets a lot of chances but misses them too frequently.”