MY ACCOUNT
Diogo Jota was hailed as “unstoppable” after the Liverpool forward fired the Premier League title hopefuls to a 2-0 win over Leicester City.
Former Wolves man Jota scored both goals at Anfield to take his tally for the season to 17 goals across all competitions, his best haul for a season in England.
Liverpool drew nine saves from Kasper Schmeichel, a total only surpassed twice by a goalkeeper in the English top flight this season, with the Dane keeping Leicester in the game until Jota scored his second late on.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said Jota, a big-money arrival from Wolves 18 months ago, is becoming the clinical finisher he always had the potential to become.
“We had the sense it could happen,” said a delighted Klopp.
Looking at Liverpool’s performance, Klopp said: “It was not the best game we ever played, but it was enough for us to be the deserved winners tonight.”
There was much to enjoy, with Mohamed Salah making a sharp 30-minute cameo off the bench four days after experiencing Africa Cup of Nations final disappointment with Egypt.
Salah could have scored a hat-trick, hitting the crossbar and drawing fine saves from Schmeichel, while new addition Luis Diaz looked the part on his Premier League debut.
Diaz received a warm ovation when he was substituted late on, having impressed on the left side of Liverpool’s three-man attack.
Klopp said it was “a surprise” that the 25-year-old looked so immediately at home, telling BT Sport: “It looks natural in a lot of moments. That’s really quick. It was an outstanding game for a first start, it was really impressive. He was involved in so many good football moments.”
Liverpool’s win moves them to nine points behind Manchester City, with a game in hand on the leaders, but Klopp said: “I don’t think they smell our breath already.”
Jota has been on the winning side in each of the 16 Premier League home games in which he has found the net (seven for Wolves, nine for Liverpool), and it was his sharpness in the box that undid Leicester.
“I always try to get into those decisive spaces,” Jota said. “It’s my best [goals haul] so far, and I want to keep adding, keep helping the team.”
Jota’s efforts delighted team-mate Andy Robertson, who said: “He’s unstoppable just now, and when you’ve got people playing with that confidence we always believe we can score goals.
“We’ve got competition all over the park. We’ll keep putting pressure on each other … hopefully the results keep on coming.”
Robertson also saluted the display from Diaz, with the Colombian showing he can carry the form he showed for Porto into the English game.
“In his first training session I saw him flying about and thought, ‘Yeah, he’ll be OK here’,” said Robertson.
“We just need to let him bed in. He’s got the language to hopefully pick up and the way we play, but for his first start I thought he was excellent. To be flying into tackles, that’s one way to get the crowd to love you straightaway, and I think they really took to him.”
Like Klopp, Robertson is playing down title talk.
“The gap’s still too big,” said the Reds left-back. “Manchester City are still in the driving seat, but we just need to keep putting pressure on them.
“We’re still fighting for four competitions. It’s going to be an exciting run-in, hopefully. As long as we keep playing with the confidence we’re playing with, I believe we can keep winning.”
