Pundit Paul Merson has claimed that Diogo Jota may not start against Manchester City at the weekend in one of the biggest clashes of the season.
Diogo Jota has been excellent for Liverpool since he made the move from Wolves, he is the joint-second top scorer in the Premier League this season, with Son Heung-Min with 14 goals, behind teammate Mohamed Salah who is racing away with 20 goals.
Luiz Diaz was brought into Anfield in January by Jurgen Klopp for £40 million, and he has already featured 13 times in all competitions and scored a crucial goal in the Champions League on Tuesday night against Benfica to ensure a 3-1 victory.
Despite the impressive form of Diogo Jota in front of goal this campaign, Merson believes that he won’t start in Sunday’s vital game against Manchester City, due to the good form of new signing Diaz.
“Coming to the team news, I think Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz will start up front for Liverpool. It’s harsh on Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino has been known to knit it together for Jurgen Klopp, but Diaz has settled quicker than snow and is on fire,” Merson said.
TIF Thoughts on Paul Merson’s comments…
Diogo Jota signed for Liverpool in 2020 and has offered the Reds a new dimension up top, he has been impressive in terms of stats, in the Premier League this season, he has a goal every 136 minutes, has an average of 2.6 shots per game and has an average player rating of 7.12 over his last five Premier League games, as per Sofascore.
Jurgen Klopp has built an offensive force so strong that it would be deemed harsh to leave any of the five main attackers out of the starting XI. But with the system that the German plays, they play with a flat three up top, so two of the five will be left disappointed on the bench.
With the goal threat that Jota has, it is hard to see Klopp leaving him out of the side, but the impact that Diaz has had on the side has been important, so it will be interesting to see what Klopp does on Sunday afternoon.