Is Darwin Nunez a more complete forward than Erling Haaland?

The two strikers have been pitted against one another since they both made the move to the Premier League in 2022. And it has developed into a fascinating rivalry between two very different strikers.

Liverpool sit top of the Premier League table for a number of reasons, but one major difference from last season seems to be the manner in which Darwin Nunez has come on leaps and bounds in Jurgen Klopp’s side. Signed for no small sum of €85 million last season, the Uruguay striker was first the butt of many jokes comparing him to Manchester City’s own star striker, Erling Haaland. But while the Norwegian talisman continues scoring goals at a frightening rate, Nunez has proven his own worth to the Anfield side through different means. And, as a result, may be turning into a more complete forward.

It’s easy to see why the two players are constantly compared to one another. Both are tall, powerful strikers who play for big Premier League sides. But, perhaps more than anything else, they both made the move to Liverpool and Man City at around the same time and for similar prices. As such, the Uruguay forward has seemingly been competing with Haaland on an almost goal-for-goal basis, and often coming up short. However, that’s not entirely his fault and in many ways not a problem at all. 

Where Haaland has made the move to Man City and solidified his role as a penalty box striker, Nunez has had to adapt to the players around him. Unlike Man City, who were in desperate need of a talisman to stick the ball in the back of the net, Liverpool already had exactly that in Mohamed Salah. And as a result, Nunez has transitioned into a forward that can seemingly score and assist goals in equal measure. Which is a notable departure from what Haaland continues to do for Man City and what Nunez was previously doing in Portugal. 

When Liverpool signed Nunez he was just coming off the back of a league campaign that had seen him bag 26 goals in 28 games. But, notably, just four assists over the course of the entire season. From those numbers alone, the 22-year-old talent would have seemed like a streamlined goalscorer, only content with sticking the ball in the back of the net. And yet the last two years at Liverpool have suggested otherwise. 

If we take a look at Nunez’s non-penalty goals and assists per 90 over the course of the last five  seasons, we can see a notable drop off in goals in his first season in the Premier League. Indeed, the forward’s adaptation to the English top-flight was anything but easy, as he picked up a red card in his second game and ended up bagging just five goals and two assists in his first 10 league appearances. Not bad by any means, but the comparisons to Haaland were once again all too prevalent. Especially after the Man City striker had bagged no less than 19 goals and three assists in that time period. 

However, this time around, Nunez looks far more comfortable in Liverpool’s set up. To date, the Uruguay forward has bagged 18 goals and 14 assists in 44 games and, perhaps most crucially, he’s developed into the perfect strike partner to sit alongside Salah in attack. So much so that of the 22 goals Salah has scored this season, no less than seven have come via an assist from Nunez. No other Liverpool player has provided as many goals for Salah than the towering forward and that one-two combo of Nunez setting up Salah to score is the currently the best striking duo in the Premier League this season. 

As such, when we then go back to Nunez’s non-penalty goals and assists over the last five years and overlay them with Haaland’s numbers we get some interesting results. The thick red and blue lines, showcasing Nunez and Haaland’s goals respectively, should be the first thing you note. And here we can see that Haaland is still outscoring his Liverpool counterpart. However, when we then look at the dark blue and orange dashed lines - which show both player’s combined goals and assists per 90 each season - we can see that Nunez has not only caught up with Haaland this season but is now  actually offering more per game than the Norwegian talisman. 

This makes sense since Nunez is scoring more goals this season, but it’s largely fueled by the player’s rise in assists per game. In fact, when we compare the forward’s assists per 90 from his last season at Benfica to this campaign’s tally, it shows a massive 111% increase. Haaland, on the other hand, has seen his assists per 90 drop 42% since moving to the Premier League and his goals per 90 have also dipped  slightly compared to his last season at Borussia Dortmund. Which is perhaps a good way of explaining why Haaland has recently faced criticism for being a relatively one-dimensional player for Man City this season, while Nunez seems to be going from strength to strength for Liverpool. 

None of this is to suggest that Nunez is better than Haaland. Both players are supremely talented forwards, with their entire careers laid before them. Instead, this should hopefully offer an insight into how each player fits into the systems they joined almost two seasons ago. And, in a way, which club is getting the best out of their star striker. Haaland may still be the leading goalscorer in the Premier League and considered the best striker in the world right now, but Nunez’s performances this season for Liverpool have perhaps showcased why a more rounded player may be of more use to their team in the race for league titles.