Liverpool are entering a crucial phase of their season as the Reds look to bring silverware back to Anfield.
The Merseyside club finds themselves seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, in the final of the Carabao Cup and are awaiting their opponents in the Round of 16 in the Champions League.
Arne Slot will have ambitions to win all three for the Merseyside club and in order to do that, the Dutch coach will need every member of his squad to play their part – although Joe Gomez is set to miss a large chunk of Liverpool’s remaining games with a hamstring injury.
One area of the Liverpool squad that went missing in the second half of Sunday’s 2-1 win against the Wolves was their attack as the Merseyside club had no shots in the half of football.
Mohamed Salah has been Slot’s biggest source of goals throughout the 2024/25 campaign but many will argue that Diogo Jota is the best finisher at Liverpool.
The Portuguese star is lethal in front of goal and Slot will need that trait more than ever to help his team over the line.
Diogo Jota can play a major role in Liverpool’s success this season
Heading into the 2024/25 campaign, Slot made the decision that Jota would be his starting number nine and the Portuguese star rewarded his manager with a fast start to the season.
The 28-year-old would score two goals and two assists during the opening seven games he played in the Premier League but the forward’s influence went beyond that as the former Wolves star would link play up and create for the wingers in the Reds’ team.
The biggest problem for Jota at Liverpool has been injuries as the Portugal international has missed a large chunk of the campaign with muscular issues.
The forward has played 23 games for the Premier League leaders this season, scoring eight goals and two assists, but the 28-year-old can have a much bigger impact at Anfield.
Liverpool need Jota to stay injury-free for the remainder of the season as the Portuguese star’s knack for scoring goals in close games could be the difference between winning the title or not.
This season could potentially be Jota’s last at Liverpool as the Reds are unlikely to renew his contract when it expires in 2027.
The 28-year-old has the chance to leave the Merseyside club on a high and Slot will give him the chance to do that.
Arne Slot backs Diogo Jota to have a big impact at Liverpool
Speaking to the press on Tuesday ahead of Liverpool’s match with Aston Villa, Slot revealed that he expects Jota to have a big role over the coming weeks.
“A role like many others. He’d done so well before his injury and, I think I’ve said it during the weekend, I couldn’t even remember when his last start was for us in the Premier League,” the Liverpool boss said.
“I think we’ve missed him for three or four months because it was Chelsea in October, that’s a long way back, so we’ve missed the No.9 that played in the first seven or eight games every single one for almost three or four months.
“Now he is back. He played 60 [minutes on Sunday] and with a decent amount of games we play now, you don’t expect him to play 90, 90, 90 in the upcoming three, but he will be involved in hopefully all three and hopefully with a lot of minutes as well.”
The stage is set for Jota to shine and the absence of Cody Gakpo for Liverpool will allow him the chance to do that short-term.
Having arrived from Wolves as part of a £41m deal in 2020, Liverpool have got value for money when it comes to Jota, however, the Portuguese star can make it one of the Reds’ best signings if he can fire the Merseyside club to a Premier League title over the coming months.
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