If Liverpool fans could have one wish granted this season, it might well be that Diogo Jota stays fit for the full campaign. When the Portugal striker gets into a groove, he tends to go on lengthy scoring runs.
Jota got off the mark this weekend with a goal that came after a sweeping Liverpool move. After putting a poor headed miss behind him quickly, Jota opened the scoring at Portman Road and netted the first goal of the Arne Slot era.
The Dutch head coach spoke of his belief that Jota’s most effective position is down the middle after the Portugal forward netted against Ipswich. And Jota told Liverpool's official website : "Yeah, I agree, especially with the way we played.
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"It’s obviously a bit different from [Jurgen] Klopp where I maybe was useful out wide," Jota explained, adding honestly: "I think here he [Slot] wants our wingers a lot more in one-vs-ones and I think we have better options than myself! If I stay in the middle and wait for those chances to come in and score them, I think that is what I do the best so you can take that into the season."
With Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz capable of playing down the left side and Mohamed Salah thriving from the right, Jota might have to battle with Darwin Nunez for the number nine shirt. As it stands, Jota is the clear first choice.
Nunez has struggled for consistency since joining the Reds from Benfica. And former Liverpool data scientist and recruitment specialist Ian Graham has been speaking about the decision to sign the Uruguay striker.
“Nunez played brilliantly against Liverpool and that has an effect on people,” the Welshman told The Athletic . “It didn’t do him any harm in becoming a Liverpool player. The difficulty with Nunez was that he was a very different type of player to (Roberto) Firmino.
"My questions were: ‘Are we going to change our style or formation for him?’ Is he a good enough player that it might be worth making those changes?’. It was something we had resisted for many years.
"We went through the same data process for Nunez as with other players. I wanted to make sure that everyone knew what a big change it would be with Nunez. It was more, ‘Are we sure we’re going to make the best use of him?’."
Liverpool.com says: Jota and Nunez are two really good options through the middle. The only questions are about consistency: for Jota, in terms of fitness; for Nunez, in terms of his finishing.
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