Paul Scholes has singled out one ‘very important’ Liverpool player for praise after the Reds defeated Burnley 2-0 on Boxing Day.
The match saw Diogo Jota sprung from the bench in the closing minutes as he made his comeback from a recent muscle injury, an inspired substitution as the £140,000-per-week forward scored the late goal which put the result beyond doubt.
That took the 27-year-old’s tally for the season to nine, the second highest at Anfield after Mo Salah’s 16 (Transfermarkt), and the ex-Manchester United midfielder explained why he thinks the Portuguese winger is so crucial to Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Speaking on Premier League Productions (26 December, 19:35) after the goal at Turf Moor, Scholes said of Jota: “He is [important]. He chips in with a lot of goals and a lot of very important goals.
“It’s good coming on for the last five or 10 minutes for a cameo appearance. It’s a good goal. It’s not one he meant, but just hit it hard and low as you can, then hope it goes in.
“He is a very important player for Liverpool. Not all of their front three chip in a lot, but he seems to be the one from Salah who does.”
Jota’s goal at Burnley was his 50th for Liverpool midway through his fourth season at the club, a landmark he’d surely have reached much sooner if it weren’t for two long-term injuries during his time at Anfield.
Despite playing the fewest minutes out of the Reds’ five senior forwards so far this term, only Salah has a higher goal tally (Transfermarkt), which goes to show how clinical the 27-year-old has been in comparison to his teammates.
That half-century contains some real clutch moments, too, such as the stoppage time winner against Tottenham last season, his double against Nottingham Forest the previous week, the brace to kill off Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-finals in 2022, and the winning strike against his former club Wolves in March 2021 to set in motion the late surge which saw LFC salvage third place from a difficult campaign.
With Salah due to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations in the near future, Jota will be counted upon all the more to keep coming up with the goods for Liverpool. If Jurgen Klopp can put his faith in anyone to step up in the Egyptian’s absence, it’s his dependable number 20.
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