12 duels won, 4 dribbles: Slot will be thrilled with one Liverpool player’s national team showing

Friday’s international action yielded mixed fortunes across the Liverpool contingent who were in action for their countries.

Mo Salah scored again for Egypt as they saw off Mauritania, while Cody Gakpo provided the assist for Netherlands’ late equaliser against Hungary, a game in which Virgil van Dijk was sent off.

Further afield, Darwin Nunez returned to the Uruguay fold after his suspension over the chaotic scenes in their Copa America exit to Colombia in the summer was temporarily lifted, but his nation fell to a surprise defeat in 2026 World Cup qualifying action against Peru, who had previously been winless in the campaign.

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Nunez impressive despite Uruguay setback

Despite the unexpected setback for Marcelo Bielsa’s side, the Liverpool striker showed why Uruguayan fans will have been glad to see his ban being halted.

As per Sofascore, Nunez won a whopping 12 duels in Lima (more than any of his teammates), was responsible for two of his team’s three shots on target, completed four dribbles and 100% of his long balls and made one tackle.

Uruguayan news outlet El Observador were scathing with most of their player ratings but exempted the 25-year-old from blame for the result, writing that he ‘tried but was stifled in his intentions’ as his teammates behind him ‘never played into his hands enough’ to truly threaten Peru.

Just what Nunez needed

Ordinarily it wouldn’t be pleasing for Liverpool fans to see one of their players jetting off to South America during an international break and featuring for the entirety of a shock defeat, but in this instance Arne Slot might’ve been quite happy for Nunez to get the full 90 minutes.

The Reds boss had said in recent days that he’d prefer to see the 25-year-old going to represent his country, particularly after he was banned for Uruguay’s September double header and has started just three of our first 10 matches of the season.

In that context, the LFC striker getting a full runout was ideal in terms of building up his sharpness and possibly regaining some confidence from an impressive individual display despite his team’s setback.

Nunez seems almost certain to start against Ecuador on Tuesday night, and at least Liverpool’s match against Chelsea being moved to a Sunday 4:30pm kick-off allows for more recovery time than usual after returning from international duty.

Hopefully our number 9 can find the net in midweek to help get him into the scoring groove for his club, who’ll need him to rediscover his best form ahead of a gruelling set of fixtures over the next month.

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