Jose Enrique ran the danger of angering Liverpool fans by saying he preferred one Everton player to their Anfield counterpart.
Prior to today’s Merseyside derby, the former Reds defender was speaking to Grosvenor Sport (via TEAMtalk) when he discussed the two players who represent their respective clubs in the number nine jersey.
As the Spaniard put it:
“Obviously, Liverpool fans are not going to like hearing this from me, but with both Darwin Nunez and Dominic Calvert-Lewin fully fit, I think I would take Calvert-Lewin.
“People seem to forget how good Calvert-Lewin is when he’s fully fit – he’s an excellent player. The way I see it – put Darwin Nunez in any world-class teams in the world and I don’t think he’s starts for most of them.
“However, if Calvert-Lewin could keep himself fit, I really believe he could be a starting number nine for a world-class team. That’s the kind of level I see from him.
“Even when Darwin Nunez is scoring goals for Liverpool, I still have my doubts about him as a player under Jurgen Klopp.
“I love him and think he would do well for loads of other teams who play counterattacking football – he’s outstanding for that – but for a team that presses a lot like Liverpool do, I’m not so sure.”
Even though Calvert-Lewin was absent for the whole of last season, Everton managed to avoid relegation by the skin of their teeth, he is still not in the same league as Nunez.
The Uruguayan has 19 goals in 52 appearances (0.37 goals per game), 2,836 minutes of game time, or an average of one goal every 149.26 minutes since joining Liverpool in June 2022 (Transfermarkt).
Both figures are superior to those of his Toffees counterpart, who has 63 goals in 215 games for his present club (0.29 per game) dispersed over 13,943 minutes on the field, or one per 231.32 minutes (Transfermarkt).
Although a center-forward’s work off the ball is undoubtedly important for a team to succeed, goal scoring ultimately determines their value, and in that aspect, Nunez (Capology), who earns £140,000 per week, is much ahead of Calvert-Lewin.
Even though the Everton marksman has been excellent, his unfortunate injury luck over the previous several years casts doubt on his dependability in terms of availability. We’re sorry, Jose, but we can’t support you in this.
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