RONNY ROSENTHAL has urged Kop flop Darwin Nunez to silence the hate mob by firing Liverpool to the title.

The striker was slammed by boss Arne Slot and ridiculed by fans after his horror miss in Wednesday’s draw at Aston Villa.

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But former Anfield star Rosenthal — who also blew a sitter against Villa 33 years ago — declared: “If you’re Nunez, you have only one option — to show what you can do when you’re given the chance.”

Liverpool can go ELEVEN points clear at the top of the Premier League with victory at Manchester City today.

And Rosenthal, 61, predicted: “Liverpool will probably win the league because they have a top striker like Nunez to come off the bench.”

On how the Uruguayan will bounce back from his miss, Rosenthal added: “I don’t think it will affect him. This is part and parcel of the game. Anyone, even the biggest striker in the world, can miss.

“This is not the point, though — the point is to see things over a player’s whole career.

“You know, these things will happen every day, any day, anywhere.”

However, Nunez’ blunder sparked a rocket from Kop boss Arne Slot, who accused his £64million forward of being lazy.

Slot fumed: “You can miss a chance but you cannot miss out on work-rate.

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“It is not part of the job of a No 9 to slow down in work-rate. That is something we will talk about.”

That blast prompted an immediate reply from Nunez, 25, on X.

He fumed: “You never see me give up,” before vowing “to give it my all until my last day at Liverpool”.

On Slot’s public blast, Rosenthal said: “I’m not here to object to the manager.

“But if you’re Nunez, then you know you have only one option — that’s to show what you can do when you’re given the chance.

“He doesn’t need to be going on Instagram. My opinion is still that he has the quality.

“He will never be a scorer like Mo Salah but Liverpool will probably win the league because they have the luxury of a top striker like him to come off the bench.”

Israeli Rosenthal’s own astonishing moment came when he beat Villa’s offside trap, took the ball round the onrushing keeper and had a tap-in from ten yards — only to crash his shot against the bar. Liverpool went on to lose 4-2.

But Rosenthal insisted he was unfazed by the incident, adding: “It does not affect me. I’m happy to talk about this whenever. It can happen to anyone. Obviously, if you have the worst miss in the top level, then people will talk about that instead of about a worse one at a lower level.”

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Nunez arrived at Anfield from Benfica in 2022 but fans remain unconvinced.

He has scored 24 goals and produced 13 assists in 86 Premier League appearances.

However, his miss provided his doubters with more ammunition as they continue to call for Liverpool to offload him.

Rosenthal, though, says the lack of consecutive starts could be one of the things causing issues for Nunez.

He believes the 6ft 2in powerhouse still has a huge role to play this season as Slot’s side look to claim Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup glory.

The ex-winger said: “He’s not a regular starter but I still think Liverpool need someone like him. Nunez will stay in my opinion unless they find something better — but you know it’s not that easy.

“He’s got the quality as a player. He just needs the chance to play more. If you are limited on chances, then obviously it’s much more difficult to be consistent.”

But the former title winner added: “It will happen eventually that he will leave Liverpool. It’s difficult to say when.

“I still think that if he plays more, he will give more end product and his statistics will improve, in my opinion.”

Rosenthal left Anfield himself in 1994 and enjoyed three years at Tottenham before finishing his playing days at Watford.

He has since achieved great success as a football consultant based in London.

The icon regularly works with some of the biggest clubs on the planet and helped discover Cristiano Ronaldo, along with stars such as Vincent Kompany and Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang.

And he also revealed how he even tried to get a teenage Nunez a move to Europe long before his eventual switch from Penarol in Uruguay to Almeria in Spain six years ago.

On spotting him as a kid, Rosenthal added: “Nunez is one of a thousand cases where I found players with potential when they are cheap.

“I called him years ago when he played in Uruguay to try to bring him to a better league. He referred me to his agent — but I did try.

“He’s one of many players who I can see quicker than football clubs can.”