Liverpool is set to lose Mohamed Salah to AFCON for a period and while Jürgen Klopp has known for a while that his talisman would be departing temporarily in January, that will not make covering for him any easier. Without the Egyptian’s goals, someone else will need to step up for Liverpool to maintain its title charge and progress in the domestic cups.
But with Salah set to miss as many as eight games in all competitions if Egypt goes all the way to the final of AFCON and Liverpool gets past Arsenal in the FA Cup, the Reds will need a proper solution. Fortunately for Klopp, there is one at Anfield already that is staring him in the face.
Just as Alexis Mac Allister has returned from injury in perfect time to replace Wataru Endō, who is heading to the Asia Cup as the captain of Japan, Liverpool has also welcomed back Diogo Jota at the ideal moment. The Portugal forward was injured himself for around a month but came back with a goal against Burnley and then won a penalty against Newcastle.
Both of those comeback appearances were from the bench but Jota is surely now ready to start. He has looked sharp since returning from his latest spell on the sidelines and is already back into his groove and some good form again.
Signed for $57m (£45m/€52m) from Wolves in 2020, Jota has always been a streaky goalscorer. He went over a year without scoring, ending that drought in April, but has netted 16 times since, including seven in nine to finish last season.
With Salah set to be missing for some key matches including two against Arsenal (one in the cup and one in the league), a side that Jota has a very good record against, the Liverpool number 20 really could do with going on a goalscoring run. And there will be a place in the team for him to do just that.
There is a question mark about whether Jota can occupy defenders to the same extent that Darwin Núñez can but what the Portuguese star lacks in chaos, he makes up for with clinical finishes. If you could merge together the pair’s best qualities, Liverpool would have the ideal number nine.
But with Salah missing, there is no reason to have to pick between one or the other. Liverpool can realistically play both Núñez and Jota in the same team, with Luis Díaz, say, switching across to the right. With Núñez and Jota present, Liverpool will have a goalscorer and a creator and Salah’s absence can be overcome.
Cody Gakpo is there as another option as well, of course, and Harvey Elliott or even Dominik Szoboszlai could easily slot into the forward line on the right hand side. But in Jota, Liverpool has its most reliable goalscorer and provider of big moments aside from Salah. In the absence of the latter, the former is a must to become a regular starter at least until Salah is back.
