Watch - Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez stars with two assists as Marcelo Bielsa leads Uruguay to 3-1 win

Darwin Nunez shone up front for Uruguay in the early hours of Saturday morning with two assists in a 3-1 World Cup qualifying win over Chile.

Ex-Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa was recently appointed manager of the South American nation and tasked with securing qualification to the 2026 World Cup in Canada, USA and Mexico.

Uruguay got off to the perfect start with victory over Chile, with Nunez leading the line effectively after inheriting Luis Suarez’s number nine shirt for his country.

Nicolas de la Cruz scored twice for the hosts, with both of his goals assisted by Nunez. The first came as the midfielder burst into the box with Nunez finding him with a deft pass which carved open the Chile defence.

Nunez had a chance to double the lead as he was played through one-on-one but was denied by a strong save from Brayan Cortes in the Chile goal.

The hosts did double their lead in first-half stoppage time when Federico Valverde worked some space on the edge of the penalty area before expertly finding the bottom corner.

Nunez continued to cause problems for the Chilean defence in the second half, as he fired a curling effort just over the bar from outside the penalty before finding himself surrounded by three visiting players only to expertly turn and get a shot away from the edge of the area which was well saved by Cortes.

Uruguay wrapped up the win as Nunez was played in down the left-hand side of the box and the Liverpool striker found De la Cruz to tap in for his second of the night. Nunez was brought off two minutes later before Arturo Vidal added a consolation for the visitors with 15 minutes remaining.

Nunez has enjoyed a strong start to the season and scored twice for 10-man Liverpool in a dramatic win at Newcastle United last month and provided an assist in last weekend’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa at Anfield. Uruguay are next in action against Ecuador on Tuesday night.

Speaking of his relationship with new Uruguay boss Bielsa, Nunez said last month: “Some things he thinks can be better. He corrects me. For example, there is a play where the whole [opposing] team is behind, then he tells not to run in front of the second central defender, but to run behind [him]. So the central defender loses the mark.”

He continued: “The truth is that it was a very good talk with him. Many people already told me how he is and I thought he was a good guy, a serious guy.

“Now it’s a new stage with the national team and I hope everything goes well for us because we want to give that joy again to all the people of Uruguay.”