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Tag: Jota

Jota gives update on Knee injury
Diogo Jota says his recovery from an unfortunate knee injury is “going well”, but no date is being set for a return.
The Portugal international made an immediate impact at Liverpool on the back of a big-money summer switch from Wolves.
Jurgen Klopp invested £45 million ($61m) in the 24-year-old, and has already seen a nine-goal return after 17 appearances.
Calls were mounting for Jota to be handed a prominent role in the Reds’ plans, with Roberto Firmino seeing his position come under threat amid a struggle for end product. The in-form frontman has, however, been added to the lengthy injury list on Merseyside.
Jota suffered an untimely setback after figuring in a 1-1 draw with his former employers at Wolves, with Klopp conceding that he may not be seen for some time.
The Reds boss said: “Yeah, it’s worse than we first thought and better than we then thought. All the potential surgeons had a look on it, no surgery needed, but he will be out for a while.
“We don’t know exactly but one-and-a-half, two months. We don’t know exactly. It’s pretty similar with Kostas Tsimikas, by the way. Unbelievable.
“It was first after the game. We saw the situation when he got it; him himself, nobody would have thought something happened there.
“We got him off the pitch and he said ‘I feel a little bit’ and next day, scans and then a surgeon has to look at it. That’s how we do it, different information. In the end, it’s strange but we were happy that we heard the final diagnosis.”
It remains to be seen when Jota will be welcomed back into fold, with the rest of 2020 being written off, but he claims to be making positive progress in his rehabilitation.
He told Liverpool’s official website: “Now I am supporting from the outside it is not easy – it’s even harder when you need to suffer as a fan and you can do literally nothing to help the team on the field.
“I’m doing my best to be back as soon as possible. Things are going well but knee injuries are always complicated so we cannot rush things, but I am doing well and I will be back on the field as soon as possible, like I say.”
Liverpool, without Jota and several other senior stars, will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Crystal Palace.
December 18, 2020
‘Jota perfectly suits Liverpool’ – Forward’s form shows Reds were right not to sign Werner, says Barnes
Diogo Jota “perfectly suits” Liverpool, according to John Barnes, who says the forward’s electrifying form shows the Reds were right not to sign Timo Werner.
Jota has quickly established himself as a fan favourite since his £41 million ($55m) move to Anfield from Wolves in September.
The Portugal international has scored nine goals in his first 14 outings in all competitions for Jurgen Klopp’s side, with his latest effort coming in a 1-1 draw away at Brighton on Saturday afternoon.
Liverpool had been in the market for Werner before setting their sights on Jota, but the ex-RB Leipzig frontman ended up joining Chelsea for £47.5m ($63m) in June.
Although Werner has also been a big hit at Chelsea, he hasn’t been quite as prolific as the former Wolves star, and Barnes thinks a patient approach in the transfer market ultimately ended up paying off for his old club.
“Timo Werner is doing well and I’m sure he could have fit into what Liverpool wanted, but Liverpool want a player that wants to come to them,” the Reds Legend told BonusCodeBets.
“From the financial point of view, they would have paid the £48m that Chelsea have for Werner without a problem, but maybe Werner wanted to guarantee that he was going to play in every single week, which he does at Chelsea and he may not necessarily have got that at Liverpool, just as Jota hasn’t.
“From Werner’s point of view, he would not have been guaranteed a starting place at Liverpool. Perhaps it’s a decision he made and one Liverpool made in terms of wanting the player that would be happy to be a part of a squad as Jota is.
“Jota is playing well not just because he’s a really good player, but because he’s happy to not play every game and he’s got the right attitude.
“What Klopp does with all the players is he looks at a player that can fit into what he wants and he knew Jota could do what he wanted, I’m sure Werner could have done the same, so like with a lot of players at Liverpool I don’t think they’re improving, I think they’re at a club that suits their style perfectly and the way Liverpool play perfectly suits Jota.”
Jota will be back in action when Liverpool take on Ajax in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Werner and Chelsea are due to take in a trip to Sevilla a day later as their latest European campaign continues.
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November 30, 2020
Jota sets new scoring record in win against Leicester City
Diogo Jota became the first player in Liverpool history to score in his first four top-flight home matches following his opener against Leicester City on Sunday.
Jota has enjoyed a scintillating start to life at Anfield following his £41 million ($53m) move from Wolves in pre-season.
Before Sunday’s visit of Leicester, Jota had scored seven goals in 11 matches for the Reds across all competitions, forcing his way into the team despite the settled nature of their first-choice attack of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.
That haul included strikes in three successive Premier League home games, equalling a club record, and he went one better against Leicester.
Arriving on to Andy Robertson’s precise cross from the left, Jota got in front of his marker and sent a glancing header past Kasper Schmeichel in the Foxes’ net to make it 2-0 just before half-time.
Firmino would go on to add a third before the final whistle as the champions earned a comprehensive 3-0 win.
Jota was starting in the Liverpool attack in place of Salah, who was ruled out due to contracting coronavirus during the international break.
His goal came after a sequence of 30 passes; since Opta have this data available from 2006-07, it was the most in the build up to any Premier League goal by the Reds.
Jota, who had his first season the Premier League with Wolves in 2018-19, has regularly terrorised Leicester City since, with his four goals in five appearances against the Foxes the most he has scored against any club.
The 23-year-old’s progression in recent months has seen a former coach say the forward will eventually succeed Cristiano Ronaldo as Portugal’s talisman – after making the prediction early on in Jota’s career.
“Nobody does what Jota is doing now without having real ambition,” Jorge Simao told The Athletic, after having worked with the player at Pacos de Ferreira.
“When he signed for Porto [in 2016], I told a Portuguese website that, for me, Jota would be the successor to Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Obviously, that was quite a big claim to make at that time, because Jota had only played for Pacos and had not had a good time at Atletico Madrid.
“When Jota signed for Liverpool, I sent him a message to congratulate him. He replied, five seconds later, with a link to that old article about him and Ronaldo.
“It was the very first thing he sent! He must have had it bookmarked. Incredible! He hadn’t forgotten.”
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‘Firmino still ahead of pressing monster Jota’ – Carragher
November 23, 2020
‘Firmino still ahead of pressing monster Jota’ – Carragher
Roberto Firmino will remain the go-to option for Liverpool in big games, says Jamie Carragher, with the forward expected to get the nod over “pressing monster” Diogo Jota for a trip to Manchester City.
Jurgen Klopp is in the process of weighing up his options to fill a number nine role at the Etihad Stadium.
Brazil international Firmino has been his favoured choice throughout a successful spell at Anfield, with the South American’s unselfish nature making him a key component for the Premier League champions.
His position has, however, come under threat from summer signing Jota, with the free-scoring Portuguese enjoying a productive run in front of goal.
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Many have suggested that the time has come for a change to be made in the middle of Liverpool’s front three, with Firmino having looked a little out of sorts for a while, but Carragher believes Klopp will stick with his tried and trusted for another clash with fellow title hopefuls.
The Reds legend told Sky Sports: “Jota’s form warrants a start, you can’t argue about that, but I just think the manager will go back to Firmino, the way they’ve set up before.
“I think Firmino this season, he’s not been at his best, there’s no doubt. I don’t think he was at his best last season. But they’ve always performed in the big games – Everton, Arsenal, Chelsea. That’s when teams play out from the back and that’s when Bobby Firmino is a huge part of that press and winning the ball back and almost not letting teams get out of their own half.
“That was certainly the case in those three games I mentioned, those teams really struggled to get through the press of Liverpool.
“I think Jurgen Klopp will know that Man City want to play out from the back and he’ll go with his pressing machine. There’s no doubt Jota can do this as well, ‘he’s a pressing monster’, that was the description of him from Pep Lijnders, Jurgen Klopp’s assistant, so there’s no worries about him on that score.
“But I just think for this game and the type of game it will be and the fact that Bobby has played so many games against Man City and Liverpool have had success in those games, I just think he’ll go back to that.”
The other big selection call facing Klopp comes at the heart of his back four, with Virgil van Dijk missing for several months with knee ligament damage and Fabinho another of those stuck on the sidelines.
Academy graduates Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams have made the most of their opportunities to impress as cover, but Joel Matip is back in contention after shaking off an injury of his own and the 29-year-old could make his first appearance since a Merseyside derby date with Everton on October 17.
“I think he’ll go with Matip, the big-game experience, and he wasn’t shy in putting him straight in against Everton, as well, another tough game for Liverpool away from home,” Carragher added.
“The only thing is fitness and playing games, but I don’t think that’s ever really been a problem for Matip because he’s injured so often he’s always in that position where he’s coming back without having had the full training programme or games under his belt or a pre-season because he is very injury prone.
“I actually think Matip has possibly been ready for the last game or two and the manager has almost kept him in reserve for the City game and making sure he’s got two recognised senior centre-backs for that City game. I fully expect Matip to play in this game.”
November 6, 2020