Why is Darwin Nunez not playing for Uruguay in international friendlies?

Uruguay have been handed a small problem ahead of the upcoming international break. A Darwin Nunez injury means the forward has withdrawn from Marcelo Bielsa’s initial squad and will recover in Liverpool.

They are scheduled to play two friendlies next week, with the first against Basque Country on March 24, followed by a game against Ivory Coast on March 27.

Darwin Nunez Injury: Extent & expected return

Nunez started in, and played the entire 120 minutes of Liverpool’s 4-3 defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals this past weekend.

However, as per reports from journalist Fabrizio Romano, the forward faced some discomfort. His tweet read,

“Darwin Nunez will not be a part of Uruguay squad for the upcoming games due to physical issues.

“Understand he has no serious injury but Darwin already suffered problems in the last week and will recover in Liverpool in the next 10 days.”

Having featured in nearly every game for Liverpool this season, a Darwin Nunez injury at this stage seems unlikely to be serious. It is more likely for this to be a tactical move by Liverpool to protect one of their key players ahead of an important phase for their current season.

Having crashed out of the FA Cup, the Reds can now compete only in the Europa League and Premier League.

The Uruguayan’s season so far

Darwin Nunez has been a key player for the Reds this season and has chipped-in with goals and assists alike. He has more threat and direction to his play compared to when he first arrived, with his development taking big leaps this season.

In 42 appearances across competitions, Nunez has netted 17 goals and has also bagged 14 assists to go with it. For perspective, the forward ended last season having made a total of 42 appearances, scoring 15 goals and providing four assists.

Seeing that his game is naturally catered to creating as well as scoring, Nunez proves to be a very valuable asset in the final third for Jurgen Klopp.

Liverpool will host Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League for their next game on March 31 and the Uruguayan will hope he is fit in time to be selected.

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