Luis Diaz in fine Colombia form as he enters pivotal Liverpool season
Liverpool winger Luis Diaz scored again for Colombia on Saturday night in the 5-0 against Panama in Copa America.
Diaz has been in fine form in the competition as he looks to move on from an underwhelming season in a Liverpool shirt.
He was heavily criticised last season and rightfully so on some occasions as he was unable to step up when needed for Liverpool.
Now his focus will be on teammate Darwin Nunez and Uruguay in the Copa America semi-final on Thursday (11 July).
But there is no escaping that next season for Diaz is pivotal for his Liverpool future.
Diaz for Liverpool and Colombia are two different players
Diaz is not the only Liverpool player outperforming his club outings on the international stage.
His semi-final opponent Nunez has been leading the way for Colombia whilst Cody Gakpo is currently the Euro 2024 joint-top goalscorer with the Netherlands and will face Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez with England in the semi-final on Wednesday (10 July).
The Colombian enjoyed another outing against Panama, scoring the third goal of the game with a delightful chip and his sole shot on target for the game amounting to 0.27 xG as per Sofascore.
He was back to his best completing 75 per cent of his dribbles, 73 per cent of his ground duels and proved a menace to the Panama defence drawing four fouls.
Throughout the tournament, Diaz has proven to be his country’s talisman.
The 27-year-old has two goals in four starts and averages three successful dribbles per 90 at 57 per cent (Sofascore).
Despite not registering an assist so far, he has created two big chances and 1.3 key passes per 90 for 1.30 xA.
All the numbers suggest that Liverpool have a world-class player on their hands but for some reason can’t replicate those performances at club level.
The Manchester City match at Anfield in March is the most damning representation of his season.
Liverpool were in the Premier League title race and a win would have made the title a real possibility in Jurgen Klopp’s final season at Anfield.
Diaz missed the biggest chance of the game when he hit his effort wide of Stefan Ortega when played through one-on-one with the score tied.
He still provided glimpses of quality as he dribbled past both Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias with ease throughout the match.
But when all is said and done, goals are the most valuable commodity in football and Diaz doesn’t provide enough for the Reds.
The Colombian scored eight goals in 37 Premier League matches with a shot conversion rate of nine percent (Sofascore).
He missed 13 big chances throughout the campaign amounting to 11.88 xG.
Furthermore, his 0.39 xG per 90 placed him in the top 96 percentile in the league last season (FBref).
Diaz accumulated a combined 0.58 xG and xA per 90 which is in the top 87 percentile.
The bottom line is that the numbers are nowhere near good enough for a club the size of Liverpool.
At 27 years of age, he is considered to be at the peak of his powers but struggles to match the performances of his predecessor Sadio Mane.
There is a lot of noise surrounding his future at Anfield [Football Insider] that is unlikely to disappear until the transfer window closes 30 August.
Liverpool are a football club that loves data and the data suggests that Diaz may have to continue his future elsewhere.
But if he decides to stay this summer, this will be his last chance to impress under new manager Arne Slot.
In other Liverpool news, Liverpool chief shares number one reason behind Arne Slot appointment at Anfield.
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