Darwin Nunez is a surprise omission from Liverpool’s squad for their Premier League match against Wolves on Saturday evening. The striker, who was expected to feature on the bench, is absent entirely due to illness.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has made sweeping changes to his starting lineup, with 10 new faces from the team that secured a 5-1 win over West Ham in midweek. Diogo Jota is the only player to keep his place, having been substituted early in the second half of that Carabao Cup victory.
Jota, who was rested during the West Ham game, was anticipated to lead the attack at Molineux. It was expected that Nunez would merely drop out of the starting XI as Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz returned to the wings.
However, the Uruguayan forward’s illness leaves him out of the squad entirely. As a result, Federico Chiesa and Cody Gakpo are the only attacking substitutes available, while Wataru Endo seems to have benefitted from Nunez’s absence.
This marks the first match Nunez has missed since last season’s FA Cup fifth-round win against Southampton, where he was sidelined with a muscle injury. That issue caused him to miss three games in February, including the Carabao Cup final.
Both Nunez and Slot will likely be disappointed, as the 25-year-old striker had been showing encouraging form in recent weeks. He scored a goal in the 3-0 win over Bournemouth in the last league game and provided an assist for Gakpo in the 5-1 triumph over West Ham, playing the full 90 minutes in that match.
For the Wolves game, Jota will return to his usual role as the central striker, flanked by Salah and Diaz, while Liverpool hope to continue their strong run of form.
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