Darwin Nunez has had a rollercoaster start to his Liverpool career since joining for a club-record £85 million from Benfica in June.

The striker was widely mocked by rival fans for some of his performances in pre-season - most notably for missing a sitter on his debut against Manchester United.

It led to Jurgen Klopp having to defend the 23-year-old earlier this week.

"Five weeks ago, when we started pre-season and he had his first game and it didn't look great from the outside world," Klopp said. "Not for us, but it's crazy how quick we judge people… wow!

"Imagine if somebody did that to us and said, 'First day of work, it didn't work out. Go home, we never want to see you again! And you don't get a second chance by the way' - we would have all been long gone! No chance."

But Nunez soon silenced those early critics.

He scored four second half goals in a pre-season friendly against RB Leipzig and then came off to the bench to help Liverpool win the Community Shield by winning a penalty and then scoring a goal of his own.

On the opening weekend of the Premier League season, he caused havoc against Fulham as a substitute with a goal and an assist during the 2-2 draw.

He was rewarded with a start against Crystal Palace on Monday night following Roberto Firmino's injury - although few would say he didn't deserve his place in the starting line-up.

However, Nunez had a home league debut to forget.

You're probably fully aware that he was sent off for a crazy headbutt before the hour mark.

But even before that, the Uruguayan didn't have it all his own way.

He was heavily involved all game but things didn't quite go to plan.

He had a golden opportunity to open his Anfield account in the first half but fluffed his volley. He then managed to somehow hit the post from close range with another first half chance.

Elsewhere, his first touch and passing was off on a number of occasions.

And, as has become a tradition in the age of social media, a compilation of Nunez's 'highlights' vs Crystal Palace has been shared online.

Take a look at the brutal video below:

VIDEO: Darwin Nunez's performance vs Palace

Ouch.

After the match, manager Klopp admitted that Nunez was deservedly sent off.

"A clear red card, I cannot deny that," he said. "Yeah, he will learn from that. Unfortunately, he has now a few games’ time to do so. That’s not cool for us in our specific situation, even less, but that’s how it is.

"Yeah, of course I will speak with him. I came in and I wanted to see the situation; in the game I couldn’t see anything so I didn’t know what happened. I saw Andersen on the floor and Darwin walking away, that was my picture.

"I asked then our guys already and I saw only, ‘OK, red card’. And then I saw it – yes, it is a red card. Wrong reaction in the situation. Andersen wanted that, I would say, and he got it. But he made a mistake, Darwin, so of course we will talk about it. But not yet."