Darwin Nunez continues to frustrate with worst conversion rate in Premier League

Darwin Nunez may have enjoyed a strong start to the season, but he remains an enigma. 

The Uruguayan has netted seven goals and provided six assists in 20 appearances in all competitions, a far superior total than he had at this stage last season.

There have been some fantastic finishes and performances from the former Benfica man this term, but his displays haven't always been terribly convincing.

Liverpool's 4-3 victory over Fulham was perhaps the perfect example of one of Nunez's less impressive outings, the 24-year-old missing some golden opportunities at Anfield and generally struggling in possession.

Nunez missed two big chances against Fulham, adding to the one he missed the week before away at Manchester City, while also striking the woodwork for a fifth time in the Premier League - three more times than any other player in the competition.

Delving deeper into the South American's underlying numbers, his profligacy becomes even more evident.

Nunez has the sixth highest xG (expected goals) of any player in the Premier League this season so far, the striker expected to have scored 8.18 goals from 13 league appearances (via Understat).

That means that there is a discrepancy of +4.18 between Nunez's xG and his actual tally of four goals, the biggest margin of any player in the Premier League this term.

Among the division's least clinical forwards are Manchester United's Rasmus Hojlund (0 goals form an xG of 3.01) and Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson (6 goals from an xG of 8.29).

However, Nunez outperforms both them in terms of wastefulness in front of goal and, despite having the sixth highest xG in the league, ranks below 19 other players when it comes to his total of just four goals.

While Nunez has also provided plenty of assists this season and been a constant menace when he's featured, the forward simply must start finding the back of the net on a more frequent basis.

Compared to a supreme finisher like Mohamed Salah, Nunez's stats look even more concerning.

Salah has ten Premier League strikes to his name this season from an xG of 9.69, meaning the Egyptian is incredibly efficient when it comes to goalscoring. In fact, the 31-year-old is the only player outperforming his expected goals from the ten players with the highest xG this campaign.

Nunez remains an incredible talent for the Reds, but he needs to start taking some shooting lessons from Salah to reach his lofty potential.