‘Really special’ Liverpool player has quietly been just as good as Phil Foden in 2024

Add as preferred source on Google

Liverpool look all set to go head-to-head with Manchester City in another Premier League title race.

With Arsenal in the mix as well, Jurgen Klopp’s final season seems likely to be a three-way fight for the crown. City are in the ascendancy, having won their last six league matches, and last 11 in all competitions.

Key to that run has been Phil Foden. The England attacker has scored eight goals and laid on four assists in his last 10 games. In the seven games since 2023 became 2024, Foden has six goals and two assists.

According to OptaJoe on X, that output can only be matched by three other players in the calendar year so far. The first is another City player, Kevin de Bruyne, who has two goals and six assists since returning from injury.

The other two are, pleasingly, from Liverpool. In a nod to the Reds’ ability to go blow for blow with Pep Guardiola’s side, both Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez boast eight goal contributions in 2024.

Unlike their rivals from Manchester, Jota and Nunez’s numbers are nicely balanced in terms of scoring and providing. The Portuguese has five goals and has set up three more, while Nunez has registered four of each metric. Impressive.

Jota matching Foden

After he scored again in the Champions League last night, much has been made of Foden’s current form. The Man City academy graduate is certainly in a rich vein and has now hit 15 goals this season.

But Opta’s stats go to show that Jota is deserving of just as much praise as Foden. Ultimately, he doesn’t seem to get it.

It isn’t that Liverpool’s No.20 is unheralded as such, he is well regarded and does occasionally get his praise. As Micah Richards recently said though, for how good he is, Jota is underrated.

Jurgen Klopp is certainly in no doubt of his quality, mind you. The Liverpool manager labelled Jota as ‘really special‘ only a couple of weeks ago.

Nevertheless, if you ask rival fans or other pundits to pick their ideal Reds front three, the 27-year-old likely wouldn’t be in it. That’s wrong.

If Foden is having an amazing season, then what of Jota, who has just one goal less than the 23-year-old. Furthermore, Diogo is doing it in less games.

Foden has 15 goals from 36 games, Jota has 14 in 27. If we’re talking assists, then the City man has 10 to Diogo’s three, but again, he’s played far more and is also generally a more creative player.

It isn’t that we’re all that bothered. As long as Jota is coming up with the goods, then it doesn’t necessarily matter if the wider world appreciate his efforts. There is obviously more to the game than just goals and assists, too.

But as talk continues of just how wonderous Foden and De Bruyne are, it would be nice to hear some praise for Liverpool’s own tremendous two as well. Jota is underrated, but Nunez, Nunez is just downright misunderstood.