Jurgen Klopp says Diogo Jota has an injury after playing against Midtjylland in midweek. There are two things we must remember, though.
Jurgen Klopp dropped news of an injury to Diogo Jota on Friday, per the Echo. The Portuguese forward started against Midtjylland in midweek – somewhat controversially.
After all, Liverpool were already through in their UEFA Champions League group as winners. There wasn’t any need to play stars but Klopp put Jota, Mohamed Salah and Fabinho out there.
And now it appears Jota didn’t come through unscathed. He’s injured and that makes him a doubt to face Fulham on Sunday.
But we think there are two things to remember before anyone gets too frustrated at this one.
Rotation, Rotation, Rotation
There’s a very good chance that Jota wasn’t going to face Fulham anyway. The bigger game, after all, comes the following Wednesday against Tottenham Hotspur.
It would make sense that Klopp played Jota against Midtjylland as he wasn’t playing him on Sunday. We can say the same for Salah and Fabinho – possibly Trent Alexander-Arnold, too.
Using them in Denmark meant they wouldn’t be rusty for a game a week later and from that perspective, the decision to play Jota lines up.
It could well be that he doesn’t ‘miss’ any games at all, even if doesn’t play Sunday.
Silver lining
It doesn’t sound like a serious injury from the way Klopp talks. He describes it as a knock and that he’ll ‘have to see’. Nothing major, then.
If a player is going to pick up a knock, then good thing it came on Wednesday and not Sunday. Anyone who comes away from London with even a niggle will be a doubt to face Spurs.
Playing anyone at risk against Midtjylland, rather than Fulham, was a smart move, then. Fulham will be a more intense game, given the Champions League fixture was a dead-rubber.
Players are more likely to pick up a knock on Sunday. So again, from that perspective, rotating between Fulham and Midtjylland makes sense.
So Jota picking up a knock now is not a big deal. There is no suggestion that he’ll miss Spurs – and that’s by far the more important game here.
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