Steve McManaman says Jurgen Klopp has left Liverpool’s ‘second best’ forward out vs Burnley today

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Steve McManaman has shared who he thinks is Liverpool’s ‘second best’ forward player.

The Reds front-line has been criticised of late for not scoring enough between them. Aside from the ever reliable Mohamed Salah, Liverpool simply haven’t been able to rely on any of their attackers enough.

The absence of Diogo Jota through injury hasn’t helped in that regard. And having seen the 27-year-old named on the bench for tonight’s trip to Burnley, former Red McManaman suggested that only Salah should be ahead of Jota in the pecking order.

“Someone’s going to have to step up and score goals and help Mo Salah out,” the 51-year-old told Amazon Prime ahead of tonight’s game. “We know he’s going to the African Cup of Nations, that’s set it stone already.

“Nunez, Gakpo are going to have to raise their game. They’ve got Jota on bench, he’s probably the second best to Salah.

“They can’t keep saying ‘he’s only been here a certain amount of time, or he’s only been here 6 months.’ One of them has to start scoring quickly.”

Jota returns at Turf Moor

Having been out injured for around a month, Liverpool really have missed Jota.

They’ve played eight games since the former Wolves man hobbled off against Manchester City in November.

In those matches, Darwin Nunez has scored 0 goals, Luis Diaz has one and Cody Gakpo has three. That’s just not good enough.

Jota meanwhile was in superb form before succumbing to injury. Salah aside, it’s quite clear that the Portugal international is Liverpool’s most reliable source of goals.

As a result, all Reds supporters would have been delighted to see Diogo named in the squad for this evening’s game.

Nevertheless, with the No.20 watching on Nunez finally found his scoring boots at Turf Moor.

Having gone 12 games without a goal, it took the Uruguayan just six minutes to find the net against Burnley. It was a brilliant finish, too. Nunez opened his body up and fired low past James Trafford from just outside the area.

It’s a good start, but if the Reds do find themselves needing a goal later on, they’ll rest easier on the knowledge that they can call upon Jota.