Liverpool boss Arne Slot tears into Darwin Nunez’s ‘behaviour’ that he ‘can’t accept’ after his horror miss against Aston Villa

Arne Slot will talk to Darwin Nunez today and says he ‘cannot accept’ the Uruguay striker’s behaviour after missing a clear-cut chance to win Liverpool the game at Aston Villa on Wednesday night.

The Reds had a golden opportunity to take three points at Villa Park but Nunez missed an open goal at 2-2 and the Premier League leaders had to settle for just a draw.

Liverpool boss Slot says he is not let down at the chance being missed alone but was upset at how Nunez’s work-rate dipped thereafter, insisting that the disappointment of the moment ‘got too much in his head’.

‘I will tell him that you can miss a chance but you cannot miss out on workrate,’ said Slot. ‘That is the life of a striker, he will miss chances and score some. It is part of the job of a No 9, you miss when people expect you to score.

‘It is not part of the job of a No 9 to slow down in workrate. And that is something we will talk about.

‘I can accept every miss, especially from a player who scored two very important goals away at Brentford and that scored for us in the home game against Villa. I would prefer him to score but the word “chance” says it all.

The 25-year-old inexplicably passed up a golden opportunity to put the Premier League leaders ahead against Aston Villa

Slot believes that the Uruguayan’s head dropped after the miss and resulting in him playing far below his usual level 

‘It is a chance and not 100 per cent that it goes in. I can accept misses but what is harder for me to accept is his behavior after the chance. It got too much in his head, he was not the usual Darwin who works his ass off and makes sure he helps the team.

‘He was too disappointed that he missed that chance. Maybe we will never know but maybe that was why he was just a fraction short the moment afterwards (when Emiliano Martinez won the ball in a 50-50 challenge).

‘I always truly believe it is always best to have Wataru Endo’s mindset. For the whole season he does not complain, keeps on going and keeps on going, whenever we need him he is ready. That is very difficult and there are not many players that can do this.

‘It is not the chance but the 20 minutes afterwards that I will talk to Darwin about.’

Liverpool go to Manchester City on Sunday with an eight-point lead on Arsenal in the title race having played a game more – though that could be chopped to five if the Gunners beat West Ham on Saturday – and Slot is expecting a tough game despite the champions’ bad season.

‘The style of play has always been the same for all these years from Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, Bayern or City. If they wear different shirts you would go, “Ah, this is a Pep Guardiola team”.

‘Even, even he needs quality players to get results and if so many players are out (injured) in this league, it is so so so hard.

‘What I always expect from City, since Pep has been there, they have been a great football team. They have had one or two months in seven or eight years that were not the best, maybe because of injuries. We know how difficult it is to go to the Etihad.’