Liverpool has piled even more pressure on itself ahead of games with Manchester City and Newcastle, dropping points in the "easiest" of the three-game sequence against Aston Villa. There were multiple issues with the performance, but Darwin Nunez has become the villain of the piece after another bad miss — and Robbie Fowler has not held back.

Summoned from the bench in place of Diogo Jota, who was himself guilty of spurning some good openings, Nunez was presented with a golden chance to be the hero when Dominik Szoboszlai slid a pass across the face of goal. But having done well to get there, the striker blazed it high and wide with the net at his mercy.

There was a chance for redemption later on, when Nunez burst clear of the Aston Villa defense. But faced with an onrushing Emiliano Martinez, he did not spot a square ball to the waiting Mohamed Salah, and ultimately made it too easy for the goalkeeper to execute an admittedly inch-perfect tackle.

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For Salah, who once again scored and assisted in the same game, this lack of help from teammates must be getting frustrating. The performance underlined the burgeoning importance of Cody Gakpo, who missed this game through injury.

Certainly, Nunez has been unable to make any kind of case for inclusion once Gakpo returns, which will hopefully be at the weekend against Manchester City. Liverpool legend Fowler could not hide his disgust at the miss.

"It's a bad miss, it's a really bad miss. Probably up there with one of the worst we've seen this year," Fowler admitted on TNT Sports after the match.

"I'll try and help him out a little bit by saying Szoboszlai probably should have [taken the] shot himself, but he's played a great a ball to him, and he's missed the target — criminally, from seven or eight yards, that cannot be happening."

The question of whether Szoboszlai should have taken the shot has featured prominently in the post-match fallout. He was undoubtedly in a position to go for goal, but the chance he laid on for Nunez was arguably even better, given that it took the goalkeeper out of the equation.

It did mean that Nunez had to take it at pace, and slightly on the stretch. But you'd back most top forwards to gobble up the chance — Fowler surely would have done — and once his teammates stop trusting that he can do his job, there is absolutely no point in the striker being on the pitch.

Earlier this week, Fowler was making the case that Nunez could become the new Divock Origi, coming off the bench to secure big results in important moments. But handed the chance to do just that, the club record signing showed that his composure means he is not even up to this kind of role.

He was the hero last month against Brentford, but that brace comprises half of Nunez's goal tally for the season, and he has not scored since. Fowler has given him some advice:

"If you're struggling for confidence you've got to go back to basics," Fowler said. "You've got to get the ball, you've got to touch it, and you've got to give it five yards.

"You don't look and you dally on the ball, waiting for someone to make a run so you can play an unbelievable pass. Play the simple things: you always need to go back to basics and do the simplicty of being a footballer, what got you into the position of being a professional footballer."

But at the moment, nothing seems simple for Nunez. Liverpool rejected big-money advances in January — and unless he can start putting chances like these away as his side chases Premier League glory, that will begin to look like a very poor call.

Having said that, you still wouldn't rule out that he seizes one or two of these big moments between now and the end of the season; there are still lots of things that Nunez does well, and he continues to attract opportunities whenever he is on the field. Although a summer parting looks increasingly likely, let's hope he can at least leave having played a material part in bringing the title to Anfield.