Diogo Jota came off the bench to score Liverpool’s clinching goal in their 2-0 win at Burnley this evening, but he may well have been nowhere near Turf Moor had it not been for Jurgen Klopp.
The manager admitted in his post-match press conference that he defied the advice of the Reds’ medical staff to include the 27-year-old in the matchday squad for the Boxing Day fixture, with the forward having not played for a month due to a muscle injury and only recently returned to training.
However, the German was adamant that he wanted the Portugal attacker to call upon, a decision which was very much vindicated in the end.
Klopp told reporters (via liverpoolfc.com): “In the end we deserved to win the game and it was two perfect goalscorers, I would say, with Darwin [Nunez] and then Diogo.
“We sneaked him in somehow on the squad list because he trained only twice and the medical department wanted to give him extra training and I said he can have that in Burnley.
“He had that tonight and now he can train tomorrow properly and then he will be ready for Newcastle, which is really helpful. Two-nil, no injuries, all good.”
Klopp was taking a calculated risk by naming Jota on the bench and duly bringing him on at Turf Moor, with Liverpool already navigating an extended injury list off the back of 10 games in 33 days.
However, the manager surely wouldn’t have included the 27-year-old in the matchday squad if he didn’t believe that he was ready to play a part against Burnley, a decision which would’ve been taken after seeing him up close in training.
The forward played only 10 minutes or so this evening, therefore having a gentle yet impactful reintroduction to the fold, and he now has five full days to build up his fitness even further for the Newcastle game on New Year’s Day.
Klopp knew it was worth rolling the dice on a player who, after Mo Salah, is Liverpool’s next highest scorer this season, taking his tally for the campaign to nine in 18 appearances after netting against the Clarets (Transfermarkt).
The medical staff mightn’t have been overly enthused by the manager’s decision at first, but they must now be glad of the 56-year-old’s ever-impeccable judgement!
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