Portugal had to come back from behind to win Luxembourg 1-3 in their final World Cup Qualifier. The player to start it all off, Liverpool’s Diogo Jota.
Make that three goals in three games for Diogo Jota while on country duty and finally returning to full fitness from his long injury lay-off. His goals for Portugal were crucial additions in their Group A qualifiers.
Thanks to his contribution and a team win with three goals scored against Luxembourg, they are Group A’s leaders over Serbie – but only a goal separates them with both group favourites on seven points each.
Furthermore, the Liverpool man has been the go-to-guy for his country and has directly been involved in eight goals this season for Portugal. This is evidence the Reds have really found a gem in Jota and he’s exactly what they need now to recapture their dominance.
Diogo Jota has now been directly involved in eight goals in his five starts for Portugal this season:
— Squawka (@Squawka) March 30, 2021
⚽️ vs. Croatia
⚽️⚽️🅰️ vs. Sweden
🅰️ vs. Croatia
⚽️⚽️ vs. Serbia
⚽️ vs. Luxembourg
Diogoal. pic.twitter.com/mG7Vn15fjw
Diogo Jota’s scintilating form good for Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool
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This is exactly what is needed at Anfield, one of the forwards brimming with confidence just after returning to action from injury and just ahead of a critical period for the Reds.
In what has been a truly disappointing campaign for the former Premier League champions, Jota and the rest of the squad has the chance to salvage their season with a good run from now until the end of the season.
In Liverpool’s next three games they go up against Arsenal (Saturday night), Real Madrid in the Champions League next week (Tuesday), and then a visit from the team that gave them their biggest hiding of the season so far, Aston Villa (Sat Apr 10).
Every cup game is a knockout game, every Premier League game is a must-win if they want to keep their top-four hopes alive. They need him to be starting and playing as much as possible.
He has already scored a goal on his return to club action. This capped off Liverpool first back-to-back victories since January. It was a bittersweet day as his first visit against his old team Wolves ending in victory for him.
Klopp’s biggest mistake will be…
Since making his move to Anfield from Molineux Stadium for £41 million, he has forced himself into the conversation as being named one of the best summer transfers of 2020, if not, the best.
If it was not for his injury setback, which have could have easily been avoided by Jurgen Klopp, the in-form forward could have been closer to Salah’s numbers for the season and the club could have been in a better position.
The Reds boss will be a fool to start Jota on the bench for any of the next three encounters. Firmino has been missing for the last three matches after picking up a knee injury last month – not forgetting who has been the more in-form number 9 of the two.
There are some big decisions for Klopp to make when the weekend comes and Saturday’s top-6 duel is fast approaching.