Fulham 1-3 Liverpool: The forward’s return has been a huge boost for Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool have one player who is outperforming the very best attackers in the Premier League, including Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland.
The goals have flown in this season for Jurgen Klopp’s side as their summer signings have been conclusively far better in front of goal while their attacking front five have all scored a minimum of 10 goals in all competitions. It’s a huge reason why Liverpool won the EFL Cup and were in contention for all four competitions until March.
While Salah is their top scorer in all competition with 24, there’s been great performances all round in attack, with Darwin Nunez hitting back at critics of his first season in England with 18 goals and 13 assists in his second campaign. But it’s Diogo Jota that has quietly become their most potent attacker with 15 goals and four assists to his name despite two injuries which kept him out for a combined 19 games. And his latest was a nerve-settler against the Cottagers over the weekend as his quick finish was enough to beat Bernd Leno, who perhaps should have done better.
According to Opta, excluding penalties, Jota is averaging 115 minutes-per-goal and 88 minutes-per-goal or assist in the Premier League this season. This is the best rate of any player with 5+ non-penalty goals and 10+ non-penalty goal involvements in the competition in 2023-24.
Klopp did say following the Fulham game that Salah was ‘the best finisher by some distance’ but Jota’s consistency this year has been brilliant. While the numbers are clear to see, the quality of his finishing – and the regularity in which he has been able to convert chances that others would typically waste – means he has been sorely missed across his absences this season.
Liverpool’s record had been very strong without him but did miss the frustrating goalless draw with Manchester United at Anfield back in December as well as the draw with Arsenal a week later. On top of that, he missed the draw at Old Trafford a few weeks ago and managed just 24 minutes in the inconceivable draw against Crystal Palace on April 14.
The return of the Portuguese attacker – alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold – will be key as their best creator and best finisher (regardless of Klopp’s comments on Salah) are now ready to hone in on the final five league games to try and prevent Pep Guardiola’s side from another league success.
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