Arne Slot doubles down on Darwin Nunez criticism | OneFootball

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has reiterated his "disappointment" with Darwin Nunez's lacklustre work-rate in recent games after dropping the Uruguayan for Sunday's victory over Manchester City.

The mercurial forward has not started a Premier League game since the Boxing Day triumph over Leicester City, but was an unused substitute for the first time this calendar year when Liverpool eased to a 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium on the weekend.

Nunez found himself at the centre of a bizarre storm initially sparked by his glaring miss against Aston Villa last week. Slot instead focused on his striker's diminished work rate in the aftermath of that wayward finish and left him on the bench against City.

The topic of Nunez was raised once again before Liverpool host Newcastle United on Wednesday evening. "I helped him by saying you can miss a chance," Slot reasoned.

"I wasn't only hard on him," the Liverpool boss continued. "But for the second time in a row I wasn't happy with his work effort, against Wolves and against Villa. I can't accept if a player doesn't give everything. That is clear. I can accept it once, but twice was a bit too much. That's why I addressed it.

Darwin Nunez was downbeat after his blunder in midweek / Molly Darlington/Copa/GettyImages

"If you miss a chance, you need to be fighting for the team. I'm not saying he didn't do that at all, but it wasn't the usual Darwin, the one that is loved by the fans. That is mainly because he always works so hard."

Slot experimented without a recognised centre-forward against City, lining up with a false-nine tandem of Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones. That pairing impressed against the defending champions, but the return to fitness of Cody Gakpo could see Liverpool return to a more familiar front three of the Dutchman, Luis Diaz and the record-breaking Mohamed Salah.

Nunez's work ethic in training on Monday was described as "incredible", but it remains to be seen whether he'll have a chance to demonstrate that endeavour in a competitive setting.