Robbie Earle suggests 30-year-old Liverpool player is never going to be right for Jurgen Klopp

Robbie Earle suggests 30-year-old Liverpool player is never going to be right for Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo has split plenty of opinion ever since signing for the Reds in August.

Despite some initial reservations about the wisdom of bringing in the 30-year-old, Endo has recently proven a few of his doubters wrong.

That culminated in an excellent display this mid-week against Burnley. Having ran the show in the Liverpool midfield, Endo covered every blade of grass.

But despite his pleasing turnaround in form, the Japan international still hasn’t convinced everybody. Speaking on The 2 Robbie’s Podcast today, former Wimbledon player Robbie Earle has claimed that he’s not sure Endo will ever be the ‘right’ midfielder for Liverpool.

“Do you know what I thought and he does get caught out once or twice with the game being quick, but I thought Endo is starting to show me a little bit more in midfield,” began the pundit.

“I’m not sure he’s ever going to be [right]. But at least I think he’s getting reps and he’s got half a season under his belt and I think he’s going to be better for that.”

Endo still facing uphill battle
For the time being, this is probably the dominant line of thinking surrounding Endo.

Yes, he’s been doing very well recently and is certainly making a lot of people eat their words. But in the long-term, it still feels like Liverpool need an upgrade.

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If the former Stuttgart man were four or five years younger, then perhaps those conversations would be a little different.

Endo has certainly shown that he’s capable of being a starter for Liverpool and also appears to be getting better and better.

Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
However, at 30, he does still have the feeling of being a placeholder at Anfield.

That might be unfair, and who knows what Jurgen Klopp is really thinking. Liverpool handed Endo a four-year deal when signing him this summer, so he’s here to stay.

Nevertheless, unless the Japanese suddenly becomes prime N’Golo Kante for the rest of the season, the feeling will continue that the Reds need a younger, top class model.

That’s for the future, though. For the time being Endo is enjoying his football and we’re enjoying watching him. He may not be the right man for the next five years but for the here and now, he’s doing just fine.

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Forgotten Liverpool man who left Borussia Dortmund because of Jurgen Klopp returns to rescue crisis club
Connor Andrews
29th December 2023, 2:52 pm Updated: 29th December 2023, 3:33 pm
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Borussia Dortmund legend Nuri Sahin has returned to the club as an assistant head coach.

The former midfielder, who also had brief stints at Liverpool and Real Madrid, leaves his post as manager of Turkish Super Lig side Antalyaspor to work alongside the hugely under-pressure Edin Terzic.

Sahin is back on his way to Dortmund

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Sahin is back on his way to Dortmund
Dortmund announced the news in a club statement, with Sahin to be joined by former teammate Sven Bender, who was working as an assistant at the Germany U17 side.

The pair will join the squad on January 3 for their training camp in Marbella before the Bundesliga resumes on January 12. Both have signed until 2025.

Terzic is under big pressure despite leading Dortmund to the top of their Champions League Group of Death, with their domestic form of huge concern.

BVB are winless in six, a run which includes a DFB Pokal exit to Stuttgart, which prompted a crisis meeting between management according to multiple reports.

Since then they’ve dropped out of the Bundesliga title race, and their chances of a top four finish look increasingly in danger.

A draw at home against Mainz in their final game of 2023 prompted another crisis meeting between CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and sporting director Sebastian Kehl, with Terzic again surviving.

That could be short-lived, though, with the Turkish outlet that first broke the story, Sports Digitale, claiming Sahin will replace Terzic as head coach in the summer.

Sahin, 35, retired from football in 2021 while at Antalyaspor to become the side’s manager, and guided them to seventh and 13th in the league despite one of the division’s lowest budgets, and he leaves with the team in eighth this season.

Sahin had brief stints at Liverpool and Madrid before returning home

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2
Sahin had brief stints at Liverpool and Madrid before returning home
A Bundesliga winner under Jurgen Klopp in 2011, Sahin was named the division’s player of the season for his exceptional performances, earning him an ill-fated transfer to Real Madrid.

Later discussing that decision, the midfielder explained he was split between staying and going, before sitting down with Klopp who simply told him ‘follow your heart’ which made his mind up.

After just ten appearances for Madrid, Sahin was loaned to Liverpool for the 2012/13 season, but only featured in two more matches for the Reds before returning to BVB.

Speaking about his return to Germany, Sahin told the club’s website: “It was not an easy decision to leave the position of head of football at Antalyaspor after more than two years as we have built something special.

“I would like to thank everyone involved from the bottom of my heart, especially my players. It was an incredibly intense, educational and emotional time. I wish the club all the best and am convinced that the success story can be continued.

“If BVB asks, I can’t say no. As a coaching team, we will try together to get the team back on the road to success. It feels very nice to come home.”

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Alan Shearer predicts who’ll win the Premier League and who’ll make top four

Giuseppe Labellarte
Fri 29 December 2023 14:15, UK
We have an exciting Premier League title race on our hands, with the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa all very much in contention.

In addition, the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham, Manchester United, Brighton and possibly Newcastle will all fancy their chances of making the top four.

We are now at the halfway point of the Premier League season, with most of the teams having played 19 of their 38 top-flight fixtures.

On Thursday night, following the game between Arsenal and West Ham at the Emirates Stadium, several Amazon Prime Video Sport pundits gave their thoughts on who will make the top four.

Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Gabby Logan first asked Alan Shearer on who he thinks will take the title and Champions League spots. He replied: “City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Villa. I wanted to put Newcastle in but I can’t!”

Jermain Defoe was next, and he went with “City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal.” Thierry Henry jokingly asked him to repeat himself after naming Spurs above the Gunners.

As for Henry – understandably flustered after Arsenal’s defeat to West Ham – he said: “Talk to me in and around February. You can’t call anyone before that! I’m sorry.”

Manchester City remain favourites for title ahead of Arsenal while Newcastle not expected to challenge for top four
Admittedly, it wasn’t a great week for either Shearer or Henry in terms of their favourite clubs. Newcastle have suffered a major downturn in form, while Arsenal’s weaknesses were exposed against West Ham.

The January transfer window has come at a good time for both clubs, even though there will be limitations brought about by FFP and other clubs not wanting to sell their key players mid-season.

Let’s see what happens in the coming weeks. There’ll no doubt be movement at the likes of Newcastle, Arsenal and Tottenham, all of whom have great potential for success but have struggled with injuries, suspensions and fatigue over the course of the season.

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Sealed Deal’Liverpool has signed NAPOLI Midfieder as Trent Alexander-Arnold replacement,Fans and well wishes waiting for announcement €195m rated

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‘So annoying’… Jurgen Klopp admits 19-year-old Liverpool youngster is really not happy
Fri 29 December 2023 12:00
Updated Fri 29 December 2023 13:16
James Brooke
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Stefan Bajcetic is frustrated with his injury.

Bajcetic has only made two appearances for the Reds this season, the last of which came more than three months ago. That comes on the back of the 19-year-old missing the last two months of the previous campaign, too.

Having shown so much promise during his stint in the first-team last year, it’s been an incredibly disappointing time for Bajcetic.

And speaking in his pre-Newcastle press conference today, Klopp said that the Spaniard is ‘annoyed’ at his inability to get on the pitch.

“With Stefan, if you ask how do you feel he says ‘good’. Can you train? ‘Yes’. But we have to be sensible, that’s how it is,” explained the Liverpool manager. “It’s an issue because of his growing. We have to be careful. He could train today fully, maybe tomorrow as well and then not for five weeks. That’s how it is.

“It’s a medical decision, it’s not by the boy, it’s not by me. It’s just that’s how you have to do it if something like this happens and that makes it so annoying for the boy.”

Bajcetic feeling the frustration
Perhaps the most annoying thing about Bajcetic’s injury is that he would have gotten plenty of minutes had he been fit this season.

This is not a young player coming through who would have been having the odd cameo here and there. Bajcetic was so impressive last season that he should be considered a fully-fledged senior player.

MORE LIVERPOOL STORIES
In fact, had the former Celta Vigo prospect been ready, we’re not sure Liverpool would have even gone out and signed Wataru Endo.

Klopp appears to have full belief that the Bajcetic can be the Reds’ holding midfielder moving forward.

Photo by Will Palmer/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Had he been given the chance to do so, we think the teenager would have proven that beyond doubt this season.

Instead, having played so little over the past nine months or so, Bajcetic will have to start again once he does come back into contention.

Judging by Klopp’s words, that could still be a little way off yet. But it also sounds like that’s the best thing for the Spain U21 international’s long-term future.

With such a good prospect, the last thing you want to do is rush him back and then he picks up another issue. Liverpool are being sensible, but my word it’s frustrating. Keep hanging on in there, Stefan!

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UNCATEGORIZEDMikel Arteta makes another claim about the Liverpool game straight after Arsenal lose last nightPublished 2 hours ago on December 29, 2023By soccerlivenews
Mikel Arteta makes another claim about the Liverpool game straight after Arsenal lose last night

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta once again mentioned his team’s draw against Liverpool after losing to West Ham United last night.

The Gunners title credentials took a blow on Thursday as they were beaten 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium.

Straight after the game, pundits Alan Shearer and Jermain Defoe suggested that the defeat meant Arsenal were now at-best third favourites for the Premier League title, below Manchester City and Liverpool.

That may be true, but Arteta’s team also generated enough chances to win the game against the Hammers. And speaking to that in his post-match press conference, the Spanish coach suggested that it had been the same scenario as at Anfield on Saturday.

“When the team generates that much normally you are going to win games and that’s the way we have done it,” explained the 41-year-old.

“Because as well against Brighton we generate so much, against Liverpool as well. But we score goals in different ways and we have to make another step in that area to win the game more comfortably for sure, because today the team deserves to win the game, there’s no question about that.”

Arteta rues missed chances
We’re not really sure we agree with Arteta here. Arsenal barely created anything of note against Liverpool last weekend.

The only chance that really comes to mind was the one Gabriel Martinelli put past the post when one-on-one with Alisson Becker.

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Otherwise, the Reds goalkeeper barely had anything meaningful to do at all. A colossal performance from Ibrahima Konate in particular largely kept the Gunners at bay.

So, while they may have been unlucky last night, it’s a little disingenuous for Arteta to lump the Liverpool game in with this one.

Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images
The former Everton midfielder appears to be suggesting that his team have continuously dropped points despite dominating. That simply wasn’t the case at Anfield.

In fact, the best chance of the game fell Liverpool’s way. Had Trent Alexander-Arnold’s second-half effort fell just beneath the crossbar, Arsenal would have lost.

Given that they also got away with a pretty blatant handball in the box, it’s a bit rich for Arteta to suggest that their failure to win was merely down to a case of missing too many chances.

Either way, how and why Arsenal drop points doesn’t really matter for Liverpool. As long as they keep on dropping them. There’s a title to be won.

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SPORT | FOOTBALL

Liverpool vs Newcastle: Prediction, kick-off time, TV, live stream, team news, h2h results, odds

JONATHAN GORRIE
15 HOURS AGO
Liverpool could deepen Newcastle’s growing crisis at Anfield on New Year’s Day.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have finished the year of 2023 with another Premier League title challenge, albeit they may not always totally convince.

Still, they remain neck-and-neck with Arsenal and will fancy their chances of pouncing on a weakened Newcastle side.

Eddie Howe’s side have won just once on the road in the League all season and are looking short of ideas, particularly during their miserable defeat to Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day.

Here’s how to watch all the action.

Date, kick-off time and venue
Liverpool vs Newcastle is scheduled for an 8pm GMT kick-off time on Monday 1 January, 2024.

Anfield in Liverpool will host.

Where to watch Liverpool vs Newcastle
TV channel: The game will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Ultra HDR. Coverage starts at 6.30pm GMT ahead of an 8pm kick-off.

Live stream: Subscribers will be able to watch on the Sky Go website or app.

LIVE coverage: Follow all the action with Standard Sport’s dedicated match blog.

Liverpool vs Newcastle team news
Liverpool remain without Joel Matip, Thiago Alcantara, Alexis Mac Allister, Kostas Tsimikas and Andy Robertson.

Joe Gomez filled in at left-back against Burnley and will likely continue there.

Newcastle’s injury crisis has eased of late with Sven Botman and Joelinton now available but they remain without a host of players including Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, Jacob Murphy, Elliot Anderson, Jacob Murphy and Nick Pope.

UNDER PRESSURE: NEWCASTLE’S SEASON HAS HIT A ROCKY PATCH
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Liverpool vs Newcastle prediction
Newcastle have been so poor away from home that Liverpool must be licking their lips.

Liverpool to win 2-0.

Head to head (h2h) history and results
Liverpool wins: 92

Draws: 44

Newcastle wins: 50

Liverpool vs Newcastle latest odds
Liverpool to win: 2/5

Draw: 15/4

Newcastle to win: 11/2

Odds via Betfair and subject to change.

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I’m not sure I was even sober on my Liverpool debut but still feel harshly treated by Jurgen Klopp
Former Liverpool loanee Steven Caulker made just three appearances for the Reds during an emergency-loan spell at the club

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ByConnor O’NeillSenior Football Writer
05:00, 29 DEC 2023
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Jurgen Klopp talks with Steven Caulker and Brad Smith during a training session at Melwood Training Ground (Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

There were quite a few eyebrows raised by Liverpool supporters when the club announced the signing of Steven Caulker.

The defender joined the Reds on loan from Queens Park Rangers in January 2016, but made just three appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s side and was used as a makeshift striker before spending the remainder of the season representing the club’s under-23s.

His first three appearances for the Reds were as a late emergency striker, setting up a 95th-minute winner for Adam Lallana at Norwich City. He then played the full 90 minutes of the FA Cup fourth-round tie against West Ham, and apart from two occasions as an unused substitute, he never featured again.

Caulker, who celebrates his 32nd birthday today, would go on to play for Dundee, Alanyaspor, Fenerbahce, Gaziantep, Fatih Karagumruk, Wigan Athletic before joining Malaga City Academy as player-manager earlier this month.

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But speaking to the Guardian back in April 2017, Caulker bravely revealed how his Liverpool career was cut short after he was forced to enter rehab. The former Tottenham Hotspur man detailed how he was admitted into rehab after a string of drunk and disorderly offences and also told of how he has battled with depression for much of his career.

He said: “I’ve sat here for years hating myself and never understood why I couldn’t just be like everyone else. This year was almost the end. I felt for large periods there was no light at the end of the tunnel.”

Before he added: “Sometimes I’d be sat there with the police and my lawyer, watching the CCTV footage of what I’d done, and I didn’t recognise myself.

“I couldn’t believe the person I was. It’s so hard to accept I could be like that. In Liverpool, I was waking up in the middle of the night, throwing up. People were blackmailing me, club owners, and bouncers: ‘Pay money or we’ll sell this story on you.’

“And I had no idea what I’d even done on those blackouts. I eventually told the club I could not function and needed to go back into rehab.”

In a separate interview with FourFourTwo in the same year, Caulker revealed: “I was really low. The cycle of gambling, drinking, and self-loathing was supposed to numb the pain, but it only made things worse.

“At the time, I thought I was at rock bottom. I was wrong. After a couple of months, I knocked on Jurgen Klopp’s door and said, “I don’t feel like I’m good enough – what do I need to do to improve?

“He gave me some suggestions for the gym, but I was mostly playing for the under-23s, and that rejection was difficult to handle.

“In a dark place, I didn’t feel like I could train and fulfil my duties, so I decided it was time for rehab. That was extremely hard, because I’d been given such a massive opportunity at Liverpool.”

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Speaking on the Under The Cosh podcast earlier this year, Caulker admitted that he wasn’t sure if he was ‘even sober’ when making his debut for the club against Arsenal.

“Monday I signed, Tuesday I trained and then Wednesday was the game,” he revealed. “I was sh***** myself and thought, ‘I’m gonna start here’ because they had seven centre-halves out injured.

HBAgency
“And I was thinking, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to start. Am I even sober? How the f*** am I going to do this?’ I was panicking. That train journey up, I was panicking because I hadn’t been taking care of myself, I was a mess. I was worried.

‘I don’t know who played centre-half, I can’t remember, but [Klopp] put someone else in [Toure and Sakho]. He said to me, ‘Come get warm’, but we were losing 3-2. He said, ‘No, you’re coming on. I’m going to put you up front’.

“I was like, ‘What’. I didn’t get time to ask him and we ended up getting the equaliser and after the game he just came over high-fiving me [and saying] that, ‘They all think you’re crazy until it works’.

“It’s true. I was just sat there in the changing room for ages thinking what has just happened. My dad was there to see it as well, a beautiful moment and that’s special. No one can take that from you.”

Caulker also claimed on the podcast that he was not fairly treated during his loan spell at Anfield. He believes Klopp formed a false impression of him after declaring himself unavailable to participate against West Ham United in an FA Cup tie.

He said: “Things did change for two months. I’ve gone there; it’s the chance of a lifetime. I was white-knuckling it.

“I didn’t know how to deal with my addiction (drink/gambling); I was somehow dealing with it because I wanted the opportunity. But the opportunity never came. I had a couple of run-outs up front, played one game as centre-halve, did alright, against West Ham.

“We then had the cup replay against West Ham and I’d done my back in; horrible spasms; I couldn’t get rid of it. The morning of the game, I’ve had to tell him I can’t play. I was due to start, but I said I actually can’t play.

“I was devastated, and from that moment on, he wrote me off. I think he wrote me off as one of those guys who didn’t want to play or who was scared to play. It couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“That was it; my moment was gone. As soon as that went, and I felt it go because then he started putting me in the U23s to play every week, I was like, ‘Nah, that’s not on.’ You see it all the time; the manager just goes, ‘You’re not for me; out you go; get down with the kids.’”

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The Guardian
British Asian man sues Liverpool FC over racial discrimination
Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent
Thu, 28 December 2023 at 2:19 pm GMT+1·4-min read
In this article:
<span>Photograph: Adam Fradgley/AMA/WBA FC/Getty Images</span>
Photograph: Adam Fradgley/AMA/WBA FC/Getty Images
A British Asian man is suing Liverpool Football Club, claiming it racially discriminated against him by rejecting his application for a job in favour of someone less experienced.

Asad Farooq, 25, has a degree in stadium and event management, and has worked for Tottenham Hotspur and at the Qatar World Cup, but was not invited for an interview when he applied to Liverpool in November last year for a job in administration.

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The advertised role said the candidate would ideally “have experience of working in an elite sporting environment”, leading Farooq to believe he had a good chance of landing it.

However, he was subsequently told, in a message seen by the Guardian, that “the level of experience you demonstrated in your application was not as strong as the candidates that were taken forward for interview”.

After spotting that the person appointed to the role – according to their LinkedIn profile – had no football experience and just one full-time job since graduation, Farooq instructed Yunus Lunat, a lawyer who was the first Muslim to sit on the Football Association (FA) council and was ethnic minority representative on Liverpool’s official supporters’ committee.

Liverpool supporter Farooq, who lives in Birmingham, said: “As a south Asian, I’ve worked really hard to get my foot into the door and nobody seems to be giving me any opportunities.

“I’m more than capable of doing the [Liverpool] job. I’m not going to drop this, because they’re claiming that they are all about diversity, they’re claiming that they want south Asians to come into the football industry, but then they do these bad recruitment practices and don’t give us these opportunities.

“They’re talking about how they want to break down barriers but this is not breaking down barriers.”

Farooq said he has asked the club for its diversity statistics but it has refused to provide them.

Related: Football clubs failing to hit ethnic and gender diversity targets, reveals FA

The only publicly available figures are in the FA’s 2022-23 Football Leadership Diversity Code report, which sets a target of 15% of new hires in senior leadership and in team operations roles to be black, Asian or mixed-heritage. Liverpool’s results for new hires were 0% and 9% respectively, compared with 9.1% and 11.2% across all 54 signed up clubs. In interview shortlists at Liverpool, 82% had at least one male black, Asian or mixed-heritage candidate and 68% had at least one female black, Asian or mixed-heritage candidate.

Liverpool’s website says it is “striving to lead the way when it comes to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)” and the club holds the Premier League’s highest honour for EDI.

The club declined to comment on Farooq’s case while proceedings are live or to provide diversity data to the Guardian. It is anticipated that it will try to get the case thrown out at an employment tribunal hearing in March.

Lunat said when he approached Liverpool on Farooq’s behalf the club gave a different reason for rejecting his application, claiming it was because of his salary demands.

Farooq said it later emerged that the person picked for the role that he unsuccessfully applied for was only temporary and had been replaced by someone else, although they were given another job within the club.

Paul Scholes hails £41m Liverpool star as ‘the one’ after Mohamed SalahPhoto by Alex Livesey – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
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PAUL SCHOLES HAILS £41M LIVERPOOL STAR AS ‘THE ONE’ AFTER MOHAMED SALAH
Amir Mir
Amir Mir
Thu 28 December 2023 10:30, UK
Updated Thu 28 December 2023 11:55, UK
Diogo Jota marked his return to Liverpool colours by scoring from the bench during his side’s 2-0 win over Burnley on Boxing Day.

In recent years, the 27-year-old has been hit with a spate of injuries that just haven’t allowed him to showcase his true worth to Liverpool fans.

But Paul Scholes thinks Diogo Jota is a ‘very important’ player for Jurgen Klopp and someone who can provide the goalscoring goods alongside, Mohamed Salah, as he told Premier League Productions (26/12/23 at 7:35 pm).

Whilst the Manchester United legend questions the goalscoring qualities of Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez.

Diogo Jota’s record in Liverpool colours is there for all to see, it’s just the treatment room that has stood in his way of really exploding.

Since moving to Anfield from Wolves in a £41 million deal in 2020, he has scored 50 goals in 131 games in all competitions.

That’s pretty good going for a player who hasn’t started regularly, as well as playing second fiddle to the likes of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.

But Paul Scholes certainly appreciates the player and he spoke about him in glowing terms.

Diogo Jota’s importance to Liverpool
“He is (important),” said Scholes. “He chips in with a lot of goals and a lot of very important goals. It’s good coming on for the last 5-10 minutes for a cameo appearance.

“It’s a good goal (against Burnley). It’s not one he meant, but just hit it hard and low as you can, then hope it goes in.

“But 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.”

Burnley FC v Liverpool FC – Premier League
Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Diogo Jota – the best after Mohamed Salah?
There is no doubt that Salah is Liverpool’s undisputed number one and that will remain the case until he leaves.

But you need that quality behind your main man, in case he is injured, needs a breather or in the upcoming case, is off to Africa Cup of Nations duty in January.

This is where Jota’s return from injury has come at the right time because whilst Salah is doing his stuff for Egypt.

You could argue that the Portuguese star will become Liverpool’s most reliable goalscorer.

MORE: Tottenham fear they can’t sign ‘exceptional’ Liverpool player now

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