Jurgen Klopp will indicate just where Diogo Jota stands at Liverpool with his Atalanta selection. The boss doesn’t have an easy task at hand.
Diogo Jota has absolutely exploded. The Portuguese forward arrived for £41m this season and has been far beyond any expectations.
He has seven goals in eight games, to put it one way, despite starting on the fringes. The turnaround has been remarkable – he is one of the most devastating players in England, despite his competition.
And his competition is fierce. We don’t envy anyone trying to break into Liverpool’s regular front-three. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino have delivered everything, after all.
They score goals, create chances and win the biggest trophies. Undoubtedly, the trio has been the best of its kind in football over the past three years.
And yet Jota threatens it. In fact, Jurgen Klopp will let us know just where Jota stands with his selection against Atalanta.
Decision time
Klopp won’t have an easy week. Liverpool played Leicester City on Sunday evening and then face Atalanta tonight. Then it’s under three days before they play Brighton at Saturday lunchtime.
For a team dealing with an injury crisis, that’s a terrible fixture-list and one Klopp will absolutely hate.
Unfortunately, he just has to deal with it. The best way to do that will be resting players against Atalanta. It’s a game they don’t necessarily have to win, after all, while they’ll fancy their chances with any team after the 5-0 win.
And who Klopp wants for Saturday will be interesting. If he decides to keep Jota fresh for that game, for instance, it’ll indicate that the 23-year-old is firmly a first-choice player.
If Mane and Firmino sit out instead, then we’ll know that Jota hasn’t quite broken up the stars just yet.
We know Jota is a star right now and he’s impressing everyone. But if Klopp now sees him as a first-choice player, then that’s the biggest endorsement of them all.
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