Diogo Jota is back in full Liverpool training ahead of the clash with Watford tomorrow. The 24-year-old suffered a blow on international duty.
Liverpool got some bad news over the international break – Diogo Jota had a muscle problem. It was bad enough that he never actually trained with Portugal and was sent home ahead of their final game.
That obviously put his fitness in doubt for the game against Watford on Saturday. Fortunately, Liverpool appear to have gotten lucky with this one.
Jurgen Klopp confirmed on Wednesday that Jota should be okay and train on Thursday.
“So it looks really like Trent [Alexander-Arnold] and Diogo will be fine, they will train with us tomorrow completely normal, that’s the plan,” he said, per Liverpoolfc.com.
And all went to plan. Photos from Thursday’s training show Jota competing in full sessions with the rest of the side. The 24-year-old should be good to go tomorrow, then.
Diogo Jota pictured in Liverpool training
This is certainly good news as Liverpool haven’t had good news all over the pitch. Thiago won’t play, for instance, as he continues his recovery from injury.
On top of that, Alisson and Fabinho will almost certainly miss the fixture as Brazil played in the early hours of this morning. It means Liverpool are fairly short in certain areas.
Despite that, we’re not sure it’s worth risking Jota here. Two days training after a week without doesn’t really fill us with confidence over his readiness.
Especially as the Reds face Atletico Madrid and Manchester United next week. Keeping Jota ready to compete in those should surely take priority, especially when Roberto Firmino is on hand to start.
Firmino didn’t get a callup from Brazil and can start this – it would only be his second of the season. And given the form he’s showing, we’re backing him to get the nod.
Jota can simply be a fantastic option from the bench tomorrow. As for next week, that’s a different question entirely.
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