Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has praised the performance of Diogo Jota against Wolves this evening.
The Portuguese forward got more minutes under his belt on Wednesday, clocking up a second consecutive start. It wasn’t always pretty from Jota against his old club, but he played a key role in the end, setting up Virgil van Dijk for the game’s opening goal.
And speaking to BBC Sport after the game, Klopp hailed what he saw as being a ‘really important’ performance from the 26-year-old.
“In general we did defensively well tonight, Diogo in the 10 was really important, the midfield was together, defensively we had a high line and won decisive challenges. Ali [Alisson] didn’t have spectacular saves to make which was good,” said the 55-year-old.
A goal would have been nice, but it was another encouraging display from Jota. So many positives on a good night for Liverpool.
Not all good from Diogo
Klopp is perhaps right in pointing out Jota’s role in Liverpool’s win this evening. The forward was diligent in his running and led the press from the front.
His tenacity should have led to the opening goal, with the Portugal international harshly judged to have fouled Max Kilman.
In the end, his endeavour was rewarded, as he pounced on a loose ball and fired it back across goal onto Van Dijk’s head.
Those were the good points for Jota. But there were some bad ones, too. Owing to his injuries, we’d forgotten just how frustrating he can be at times. The Portugal international loves to carry the ball, but he has a tendency to loose it a lot as well.
With Liverpool lacking fluency in their attacks at times this evening, that killed a couple of decent looking opportunities. Jota also didn’t look a particularly potent goal threat himself, which we could really do with him being.
Still, these things are to be expected when you’ve been out for four months. On the whole, it was undoubtedly a positive night for Liverpool’s £45m man. That can only be a good thing going forward.