Darwin Nunez is a doubt for Liverpool to face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday after he was substituted at half-time in Uruguay’s 2-1 loss to Ecuador, according to Liverpool Echo.
The 24-year-old was replaced at the interval with manager Marcelo Bielsa claiming Nunez had muscular difficulties after overworking himself in their last game. He was handed his second successive start for Uruguay in their 2026 South American World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador.
Nunez registered two assists in Celeste’s 3-1 victory over Chile last Saturday but he featured for only 45 minutes before he was replaced by Cristian Olivera.
Speaking after the game, Bielsa said:
“Darwin arrived with some muscle problems and it limited his game. I thought it was necessary to replace him because he was overworked after the last match.”
Nunez will now return to Merseyside to be assessed by medical staff as Liverpool begin preparations ahead of their early kick-off game against Wolves at Molineux Stadium on Saturday.
The Reds have made a promising start to the new season picking up 10 points from a possible 12. Liverpool opened their league campaign with a 1-1 draw at Chelsea before securing three consecutive victories over Bournemouth, Newcastle United, and Aston Villa.
Klopp’s side have scored nine goals in the top-flight and conceded three goals so far as they lie 3rd in the league table after four matches.
Fine-form
Nunez has been very impressive for Liverpool this new season with two goals and an assist in four games. He started the first three league games on the bench but an outstanding second performance at Newcastle earned him a place in Klopp’s starting XI against Villa at Anfield.
The South American climbed off the bench at St James’ Park to net a brace in Liverpool’s come-from-behind 2-1 win despite playing the majority of the game with 10 men after skipper Virgil van Dijk was shown a straight red card in the 29th minute for fouling Newcastle forward Alexander Isak.
Nunez shined once again against Unai Emery’s side, providing an assist for Mohamed Salah’s goal as the Merseysiders cruised to a comfortable 3-0 win at Anfield.
He struggled for consistency last season following his big-money move from Benfica in the summer of 2022 – racking up 42 appearances, scoring 15 goals, and providing four assists in all competitions as Liverpool missed out on Champions League football.
Nunez is yet to be ruled out of Liverpool’s game at Wolves but Klopp won’t want to take any chances with the striker.
Read more: Liverpool & Chelsea face battle to sign £100m South American star – reports
