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LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Monday, August 15, 2022: Liverpool's Darwin Núñez reacts after being shown a red card and sent off during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Crystal Palace FC at Anfield. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Liverpool fans concerned over how easy Darwin Nunez was riled up vs. Crystal Palace

Liverpool fans are both puzzled and concerned over how Darwin Nunez reacted to Joachim Andersen’s close contact during the 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace.

Nunez’s Anfield bow lasted just 57 minutes thanks to a straight red card, meaning he is to be unavailable to Jurgen Klopp until September after retaliating to the constant contact from Andersen.

The off-ball incident was right under the referee’s nose and was the culmination of the Palace defender continually working the 23-year-old until he reached boiling point.

The tactics deployed by the Crystal Palace defender are nothing you would not ordinarily see, and Nunez can expect that week in and week out:

“The whole game I sat really close to him, I annoyed him a lot and did well against him. I think that’s why he was a little bit angry with me,” Andersen said after the game.

It’s certainly treatment you would expect Nunez to have come across on more than one occasion throughout his career, but it was far too easy for Andersen to rile him up.

It’s cause for some concern from Liverpool fans as the incident will only incentivise other defenders to seek a similar reaction from the 23-year-old when they come up against him in the future.


A moment of madness provides an early learning curve for Nunez to experience and as James Milner said, his teammates will be there to “get round him and rally.”

With a three-game suspension, he will now be out of the spotlight and Klopp tried to look on the bright side of Nunez’s upcoming time on the sidelines.

“There’s now time for another pre-season,” Klopp said. “We will use it for physical work, not as a punishment, but to make him even stronger. That’s what we will try.”

Nunez is to miss the games against Man United, Bournemouth and Newcastle and will be available for selection at Everton at the start of September.