Arne Slot has said he was unhappy with the reaction of Darwin Nunez after the forward missed a glorious chance during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Aston Villa.
Liverpool missed the chance to go 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League table after being held at Villa Park on Wednesday night.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s equaliser earned the Reds a point, after goals from Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins had cancelled out Mohamed Salah’s opener.
However, Liverpool had a brilliant chance to win the contest when Nunez fired over with the goal gaping. Dominik Szoboszlai unselfishly squared for the substitute but Nunez blazed off target despite an open goal ahead of him. The miss was worth 0.89(xG).
Darwin Nunez misses a golden opportunity to put Liverpool ahead 😬
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/8f0rFedPHs
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 19, 2025
The draw was Liverpool’s second in three games as the Merseysides missed the chance to increase the pressure on title rivals Arsenal ahead of the weekend.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s crucial clash at Manchester City, Slot said he can accept missed chances from his players. However, he criticised the reaction of Nunez following the miss, believing the Uruguayan allowed the incident to impact his game. He pointed to a lack of work rate for the forward as evidence the miss effected his mentality.
“A miss that I can accept. What is harder to accept, his behaviour after the chance,” Slot said at his pre-match press conference.
“That miss is got too much in his head where he is the usual Darwin that works his ass off.
“I think he was too disappointed after missing that chance.”
