The Portugal international opened the scoring in the Champions League win over Atletico Madrid with his fifth goal of the season so far.
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is understandably happy with Diogo Jota’s performances, as he praised the forward’s impact on and off the pitch. The Portugal international opened the scoring in the midweek Champions League win over Atletico Madrid with his fifth goal of the season so far. It was Jota’s 18th strike overall since he joined the Reds from Wolverhampton Wanderers last September. He will aim to increase that total in Sunday’s Premier League clash with West Ham United. Ahead of the match, Klopp was asked about Jota’s importance to the team in light of Roberto Firmino’s hamstring injury and Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane’s forthcoming participation at the Africa Cup of Nations.
“He is always very important,” said the manager. “Diogo was unfortunately out for a few games as well but he is an incredibly good player. He is an incredibly skilled and talented player, I’m so happy we had the idea to sign him a few years ago. He is a proper package; can play on the wing, can play in the centre, wherever he plays he is always a goal threat, he will always arrive in the box, he always will be in the right spaces.
“He has a good nose, he is a good combiner, is a good connector – so many good things about him. And what makes it really nice to work together with him is he is an outstanding guy. He is really down to earth, very grounded. I think the closest person in the dressing room – they are all close – but the closest to him is I think Millie, so that says a lot. You don’t get in that group easily! That’s Diogo. He is a really, really top, top player. I still know when I thought that would be a player for us and I was really happy that it worked out.”
It’s an astonishing 47 goals in 16 games for the Reds this season till now. Speaking about their incredible goalscoring form, Diogo Jota said, “It’s the first time I’ve been involved in something like that. Even last season, we didn’t have those kind of stats. I think we are playing outstanding up front. But as I said, in some games we’ve had clean sheets and in some games we’ve conceded, so we need to improve on that as a team to make sure we win the games.”
“I think pre-season helped a lot. We are an intense team on the pitch and we need to be at our top level in terms of physicality, especially to be able to produce. I think this season that is happening.”
Jota, who already has five for the season so far, said, “I think it is helpful for the team to have many players on the scoresheet all the time, especially the ones up front because they get more chances. I just hope we can continue, or even improve, on that stat.”
“It’s like corners, counter-attacks, possession… I think that’s really important because in some games we will not have counter-attacks or in some games we will not be able to score after 30 passes. It’s important we keep finding [different] ways to score goals.”
