Jota primed for central role
Arne Slot earned praise for his proactivity in substituting Jarell Quansah for Ibrahima Konate at half-time of Liverpool’s win over Ipswich last Saturday. But it was just one of many decisions which paid off for him. Deploying Diogo Jota up front was another.
The Portuguese international spurned his first scoring chance following a quiet first period, uncharacteristically heading wide from an inviting Trent Alexander-Arnold cross. But his opener, dispatched from Mohamed Salah’s pass, arrived only 70 seconds later.
With 42 Premier League goals in 5,845 minutes since joining the club, Jota ranks joint-fourth in the division for goals scored per 90 minutes, his average of 0.65 putting him level with Harry Kane, just ahead of Salah, on 0.64, and way ahead of Darwin Nunez, on 0.48.
It makes sense, then, that Slot wants to put him in scoring positions as much as possible by using him up front, as he did throughout pre-season as well as at Portman Road, especially with Nunez, Jota’s main competition for the role and an erratic finisher at the best of times, still building his fitness following the Copa America.
“It’s obviously a bit different from [Jurgen] Klopp where I maybe was useful out wide,” said Jota after Saturday’s victory over Ipswich. “If I stay in the middle, wait for those chances to come in and score them, I think that is what I do best.”
His poaching ability shines through when looking at the shot locations of his 42 Premier League goals for Liverpool. All but three have come from inside the box, with the vast majority, Saturday’s opener included, converted from within 12 yards of goal.
The hope for Slot is that, with Jota deployed centrally more consistently, there will be many more to come this season. His injury record demands caution, of course. But following a goalscoring start, he looks primed to take centre stage in Liverpool’s post-Klopp era.
