Marcelo Bielsa provides Darwin Nunez update after Liverpool striker subbed at half-time

Darwin Nunez was substituted at half-time of Uruguay's 2-1 World Cup qualifying loss to Ecuador.

The Liverpool forward was surprisingly withdrawn at the interval, with the score locked at 1-1. Nunez had been a handful in Uruguay's previous game, a 3-1 triumph over Chile in which he notched two assists.

Certainly, it seems that the media in the 24-year-old's homeland were surprised to see him taken off at the interval by Bielsa. And it has been reported that the Uruguay manager said at his pre-match press conference that Nunez arrived for international with a muscular issue.

“Darwin arrived with some muscular difficulties and this limited his actions, I thought it necessary to replace him because he worked too much trying to press and attack in the last game," said Bielsa.

Nunez will now return to Merseyside as Liverpool prepare to face Wolves on Saturday (12.30 BST). The striker, who cost the Reds £64 million from Benfica in the summer of 2022, has scored two goals in four games so far this season - both coming in the dramatic 2-1 victory over Newcastle United.