Sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League, alongside now officially being in the EFL Cup final after breezing past Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield, Liverpool were very much loving life under Arne Slot’s expert guidance.
That was until they arrived in Plymouth, seeking to make it into the fifth round of the FA Cup. Like most games this term, this should not have been an arduous task for the Reds but they were on the end of one of the biggest shocks in the competition’s recent history, losing 1-0.
The ex-Feyenoord manager might well feel aggrieved by the lacklustre performances of some
attackers in recent games, notably against Argyle. Mohamed Salah has been in red hot form this term, as too has Cody Gakpo but the likes of Darwin Nunez – who continues to fire blanks – and Diogo Jota were not able to get their team across the line on Sunday.
The numbers behind Liverpool's attack this season
Whilst Salah is way out in front as Liverpool’s top scorer this season with an unbelievable 26 strikes from 34 games, other forwards at Slot’s disposal haven’t always been so clinical.
Indeed, the aforementioned Uruguayan is still struggling when given chances to impress, with a poor return of four strikes from 18 Premier League games worrying those at Anfield.
He won the decisive penalty in the EFL Cup to gift Liverpool a 2-0 lead over Spurs, but he still wouldn’t bury a chance even when Ange Postecoglou’s men were all at sea, as three chances in the open contest went begging.
1. Mo Salah
26
2. Cody Gakpo
16
3. Luis Diaz
12
4. Diogo Jota
8
5. Darwin Nunez
6
6. Dominik Szoboszlai
5
Jota is another figure up top that has fallen victim to wasteful finishing too, with the ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers ace only managing a weak return of two goals from his last five Premier League encounters, away from an unmemorable cameo against Spurs.
With some recent transfer rumours even seeming to indicate that Jota could be off this approaching summer, Liverpool must lament letting go of a sharpshooter when they did who has since blossomed into a sublime top-flight striker.
The former Liverpool striker who's now outscoring Jota & Nunez
Liverpool have been prone to a transfer blunder in the past when it comes to strikers flopping, with the likes of Christian Benteke and Iago Aspas sticking out from yesteryear, away from Nunez’s current woes.
Dominic Solanke arguably falls into this dud category, considering the Reds must have purchased the young forward back in 2017 hopeful that the former Chelsea youngster would immediately explode into life in his new surroundings as a raw and exciting talent.
Unfortunately for Solanke, the move just wouldn’t work out for him, with a justification for his poor performances at Anfield coming from the fact he had barely played senior football by this stage of his fledging career, away from a loan stint at Vitesse.
Liverpool didn’t possess the patience at the time to stick with him, with the now three-time England senior international only managing to pick up a dire one goal and one assist from 27 pitiful displays.
He didn’t let this setback completely demoralise him, however, with his next move away from the Reds in AFC Bournemouth putting him on a path to stardom, which has led to him scoring sumptuous strikes like the one above on a regular basis with Spurs.
At the Cherries, Solanke would definitely find the goalscoring groove that was lacking throughout his torrid time in a Liverpool shirt, with a bumper 77 strikes coming his way from 216 contests.
24/25
29
11
6
23/24
42
21
4
22/23
35
7
7
21/22
50
30
7
20/21
45
15
9
19/20
36
4
1
18/19
10
0
1
Off the back of these goalscoring heroics on the South Coast, Postecoglou’s side would cough up a weighty £65m to win the deadly 27-year-old’s services last summer, with that spending spree now viewed as a worthwhile splurge when glancing at the table above.
Across his debut season in North London to date, Solanke is outscoring both Nunez and Jota with 11 strikes next to his name from 29 games, with this sterling output seeing him live up to his previous tag as a “monster” by football journalist George Sessions.
Both Nunez and Jota can only boast six goals and eight goals apiece, in contrast, as Liverpool are just left to wonder now what could have happened if they had persevered with the 6 foot 2 striker instead of prematurely ditching him.
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