Darwin Nunez looked a misfiring hothead but doubling his English lessons, help from Jurgen Klopp’s ‘son’ and Marcelo Bielsa’s tips have helped close gap on Erling Haaland for ‘Liverpool Reloaded’

• Nunez’s red card on his home debut for Liverpool summed up a tough season 
• The Uruguayan though has played a big part in their return to form this term 
• City-Liverpool is tough to referee… but our campaign is up and running – IAKO

Anfield had not seen an hour of Darwin Nunez’s home debut for Liverpool when he was sent off for a stupid headbutt on Crystal Palace’s Joachim Andersen. Just 57 minutes into his first home game came an incident to sum up his stop-start first year on Merseyside.

Nunez had scored at Fulham the week before but, by the time he netted his second Premier League goal in a loss at Arsenal on October 9, another new forward brought to these shores for big money had already passed 15 league goals, with three hat-tricks.

The comparison between Nunez and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland was the main selling point ahead of last season, with Premier League promotional material billing the two pony-tailed strikers against each other as a battle to take their star-studded team to the next level.

In truth, that debate was pretty much over before it started. Haaland scored 52 goals in all competitions and fired Pep Guardiola’s team to the Treble, leaving Nunez way behind on 15 in a trophyless, below-par season for Liverpool, who finished 22 points adrift of City.

But going into the first meeting of the season between the titans – the undisputed best two teams in England in the last five or so years – the story feels a little different, with Liverpool just one point behind the leaders ahead of their blockbuster meeting at the Etihad Stadium.

Darwin Nunez has played a huge part in Liverpool’s return to form so far this season

It comes after a tough debut season which was best summed up by his red card against Crystal Palace (pictured being held back by James Milner as he protested towards the referee)

Nunez lasted just 57 minutes in his home debut before a stupid headbutt on Joachim Andersen

Nunez though has been the central ammunition for ‘Liverpool Reloaded’ under Jurgen Klopp

He is closing the gap on Erling Haaland, who he was often compared to last season as the Man City star enjoyed a far more productive debut season in the Premier League

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Klopp will credit many reasons for the resurgence of his team, ‘Liverpool Reloaded’ as he says, such as the complete overhaul of an ageing midfield with four new signings, or captain Virgil van Dijk’s return to his best which has helped the Reds eradicate sloppy performances and results.

The improvement of Nunez, though, has probably been the central ammunition for ‘Liverpool Reloaded’. It would be a drastic overstatement to say he is now level with Haaland – the Norwegian has 10 more goals this term – but Nunez is certainly closing the gap.

Getting sent off against Palace on his second league outing started a series of unfortunate events in Nunez’s first year. He struggled for form and failed to earn the trust of his manager to start in big games, with Klopp publicly decrying the striker’s lack of defensive help off the ball.

‘The first year was hard for him and hard for me as well,’ said Klopp earlier this season. ‘You see this incredible talent but it’s difficult to unfold it. I can help a player but I need contact. You can speed up the process by talking but I was not able to because I don’t speak Spanish.’

Klopp was hinting at Nunez’s lack of English as a barrier for the forward. It is understood the Uruguayan also felt his £85million price tag and Haaland comparisons put unneeded pressure on his shoulders to immediately click in English football, which his team-mates were aware of.

Media criticism after several high-profile missed chances and a couple of niggling injuries also set him back. Klopp said numerous times that his ‘golden ticket’ to the starting XI would be better work ethic off the ball, which he has put a lot of effort into improving.

He is far from perfect at the dialect, but Nunez has doubled his intake of language classes since the summer, now taking two 40-minute sessions a week. Alexis Mac Allister is pivotal in acting as Nunez’s on-pitch interpreter, with some players privately joking the Argentine is Klopp’s ‘son’.

Nunez took part as the squad sang happy birthday to substitute goalkeeper Caiomhin Kelleher on Thursday – in English – and is said to be a big help to young players in the squad with advice and a humorous personality.

Nunez is said to be a big help to young players in the squad with advice and a humorous personality

Alexis Mac Allister (right) is pivotal in acting as Nunez’s on-pitch interpreter as well as for his displays in the middle of the park

Liverpool legend Luis Suarez was asked by the club to contact Nunez when he struggled to settle

Nunez has spent lots of time with assistant manager Pep Lijnders, the multi-lingual Dutchman who speaks Spanish and Portuguese, on the training ground working on remaining calm in pressure moments and not letting mistakes in front of goal have a lasting mental effect.

Cody Gakpo, who Klopp saw as more capable at defending from the front, started the season as the first-choice No 9 but Nunez has since usurped the Dutchman with seven goals and six assists. And it is not just his form for Liverpool that has got Reds fans salivating.

Nunez is benefiting greatly from the tutelage of former Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa at Uruguay. Mail Sport understands the visionary coach has spent masses of time working on Nunez’s runs off the ball and trying to ghost in between defenders to be more of a poacher in front of goal.

Nunez has 13 goal involvements this season and Klopp will hope he can fire Liverpool to victory against Man City on Saturday – a result which would push the Reds to the top of the table

He has scored in four consecutive World Cup qualifiers including a brace against Bolivia and goals versus Brazil, Argentina and Colombia. His countryman and Liverpool legend Luis Suarez this week said Nunez was ‘one of the best No 9s in the world’.

Suarez was asked by Liverpool to contact Nunez when he was struggling to settle last season. He warned his national team successor about how tough English football is and it is understood Nunez opened up in reply and joked he was coming to take Suarez’s No 9 shirt for Uruguay.

His Liverpool team-mates are aware that Nunez struggled mentally in trying to justify his hefty price-tag and he is an extremely well-liked member of the dressing room. His goals have also eased the burden on Mohamed Salah, whose all-round game has improved this season.

But Klopp’s quotes last month said it better than anyone about his Uruguayan No 9. ‘When you see him around, everything is different,’ he said. ‘It’s still only the start. I’m a bit afraid of the highs he could reach, there is so much there, it’s crazy. We’ve found the real starting moment.’

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