5 duels won: Liverpool beast was bossing it against Chelsea in first half at Anfield

Liverpool took a 1-0 lead into the dressing room at half-time against Chelsea this afternoon, with Mo Salah’s penalty separating the teams at the interval.

The first 45 minutes were awash with big decisions for the officials to make, with a few early calls going against the Reds before they were awarded a spot kick when Levi Colwill kicked Curtis Jones in the box.

One blemish on the first half for the home side was the enforced withdrawal of Diogo Jota after half an hour with what looked like a fractured rib, with Darwin Nunez coming on in his place.

Nunez first-half stats v Chelsea

The Uruguay striker hasn’t had the most convincing season in front of goal, scoring just once in the first two months of the campaign prior to today’s match, but Arne Slot will have been delighted with the 25-year-old’s impact off the bench today.

As per Sofascore, Nunez was on the pitch for 24 minutes in the first half (including added time) and won five duels out of seven, the joint-most of any Liverpool player despite having the least involvement time-wise.

Our number 9 also completed four of his six passes before the interval and made two tackles and two clearances, putting himself about off the ball with the kind of unsung work which’ll please his boss on the touchline.

Nunez making an impact…everywhere except where it matters most

At half-time, the Liverpool Echo‘s Ian Doyle noted that Nunez was ‘instantly involved with some neat touches and good passes’, and that’s a fair assessment of the Uruguay striker’s impact after he replaced Jota.

Of course, being a centre-forward, the 25-year-old will first and foremost be judged on his goal tally, which has been decidely lacking so far in the current campaign.

However, he couldn’t be faulted for effort after coming on today, and at the time of writing, hopefully he can go on to have a telling impact where it matters most – on the scoreboard.

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