Pre-season has once again highlighted a star man for Liverpool who averaged more goals and assists than Mohamed Salah last season, and is on par this summer.
Even with all the exciting new additions in attack, Mohamed Salah’s place in Liverpool’s starting XI remains undisputed. He is one of the first names on the teamsheet and has earned that based on his stupendous form ever since he arrived at Anfield.
Once again in pre-season, he is proving his worth with seven goal contributions in just four games so far. And he isn’t just proving his worth but also his multi-functionality as a player. Normally a goal-scorer, in pre-season, we have seen him be more of a creator with just one goal and an impressive six assists to his name.
But Salah isn’t the only one to have caught the eye. Now second in line behind him is Liverpool’s second most experienced player in attack.
It feels strange to say that about Diogo Jota, but with Roberto Firmino leaving this summer, he is now one of the most senior players in attack under Jürgen Klopp, and he has proven that on the pitch as well.
With six goal contributions in total so far, Jota has the second most for Liverpool in pre-season. Another assist registered against Bayern Munich, on top of some impressive finishes as well, means the Portuguese is becoming difficult to drop from the starting XI.
But this has been the case for a while now. Last season, there was a lot made about the fact that Jota went almost a year without scoring for Liverpool. Much of that was a little exaggerated considering he had been injured for most of that year, and there were also big gaps without any games during the summer and in November for the World Cup.
Not to mention, he had also found the back of the net in pre-season for Liverpool and the Portugal national team in that time.
Nonetheless, Jota’s goal draught made a lot of headlines until he silenced those critics with eight goal contributions in his last nine games of the Premier League season.
Much was made about the likes of Curtis Jones and Trent Alexander-Arnold being key to Liverpool’s revival, but Jota was just as crucial, and he went a little bit under the radar.
Especially considering last season Jota became the first player to have played more than 1,200 minutes in a season to average more goal contributions than Salah since the Egyptian arrived at the club.
In total, Jota averaged 0.97 goals and assists per 90 minutes in all competitions for Liverpool last season. This means he marginally beat Salah to that distinction by a whisker, with Salah averaging 0.96.
Given his form in pre-season, it looks like the Portuguese international is not about to slow down, and at this rate, he is the obvious second name in attack on the teamsheet after Salah.
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