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Enzo Maresca has shown Arne Slot exactly how to handle Darwin Nunez

Darwin Nunez of Liverpool celebrating after scoring the third goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and AFC Bournemouth at Anfield on September 21, 2024 in Liverpool, England.
-Credit: (Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)


Liverpool saw the best of Darwin Nunez against Bournemouth, but these flashses are precisely what make him so frustrating. More than two years into his Anfield spell, the Reds are still waiting to see that quality on a consistent basis, but Enzo Maresca might have the answer.

Chelsea is not an example to follow in many areas at present. Missing out on Champions League football for two seasons running, it has made a reasonable start in its bid to make it third time lucky, but the team has more or less had to start from scratch with the appointment of Maresca and a slew of new signings.

There will be no jealousy at Liverpool, even after FSG presided over such a quiet summer in Arne Slot's first transfer window. But when it comes to unlocking Nunez, a previous big-money addition, the Chelsea playbook might be worth a quick glance.

Patience is not a word readily associated with Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, who have been notoriously trigger-happy with new signings and managerial changes. Now, they are reportedly at loggerheads with one another, a seemingly inevitable endpoint of their whirlwind ownership.

However, perhaps more by luck than judgment, Chelsea has stuck by Nicolas Jackson. A high-profile summer pursuit of Victor Osimhen ultimately came to nothing, and the Senegal international has duly been a central part of Maresca's early plans.

Arriving the summer after Nunez, there were some obvious parallels, with Jackson generating a healthy volume of chances but struggling to convert at a convincing rate. The pair ended up with an identical 19 Premier League goal contributions apiece.

The great enigma of both players is that this is not a bad tally at all. But there remained a sense that both of them could and should be capable of far more.

At the start of the season under Maresca, it's fair to say that Jackson has repaid the "faith", even if it came about more from transfer market failures than anything else (as well as Osimhen, there was a botched move for Samu Omorodion, who ended up going to Porto instead for a fraction of the fee Chelsea had agreed). The 23-year-old already has four goals and two assists, having led the line throughout Chelsea's campaign to date.

Nicolas Jackson of Chelsea celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United FC and Chelsea FC at London Stadium on September 21, 2024 in London, England.
Nicolas Jackson has been in prolific form for Chelsea. -Credit:Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

By contrast, Nunez's start against Bournemouth was his first of the season. He repaid Arne Slot with a goal — and perhaps the Liverpool boss must now mimic Maresca and give his hot-and-cold striker a sustained run.

It's not as though Jurgen Klopp never tried that, but plenty of players have enjoyed early improvements under Slot. And just like in Jackson's case, Liverpool has seen enough from Nunez in the recent past to stand by him and give him a proper chance to become the main man under the new manager.

The potential rewards are clear. Remarkably, Jackson now has more non-penalty league goals since the start of last season than Mohamed Salah, as well as a host of other big names including Kai Havertz, Alexander Isak, Son Heung-min and Dominic Solanke.

That's despite coming in for floods of abuse at times last season. Nunez was similarly maligned, but if anything he showed an even higher ceiling.

Jackson's non-penalty expected goals (xG) tally of 0.62 over the past year places him in the 94th percentile of forwards in Europe's top leagues. But at 0.71, Nunez has notched a significantly higher xG total, while also recording more expected assists.

The Liverpool man is a generational chance magnet, with only Erling Haaland really even in the same conversation. The potential rewards of getting him firing are even higher than they are with Jackson.

Nunez could fly beyond Salah, Son, Jackson and the rest of them if he began converting at an even average rate. And he showed against Bournemouth that he has some significantly above-average finishing in the locker.

The presence of Diogo Jota means that Nunez has far more fierce competition than Jackson at Chelsea. But with Maresca getting the best from his enigmatic striker through sheer persistence, Slot has been given the template to unlock his own marksman at Liverpool.