Liverpool’s £140k-p/w Star Has Become A Big Worry

Liverpool took a draw from their Premier League clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last night and despite the point earned, Jurgen Klopp will surely be slightly frustrated due to the tight race for Champions League football next season.

The Reds have just ten games remaining to close the gap with a number of teams competing for the fourth spot inside the top four and are now seven points adrift following their stalemate in west London.

Despite having 51% possession, Liverpool had fewer shots on goal (12 v 7), created fewer big chances (0 v 3) and won fewer duels and tackles over the performance, with the side lacking real quality all over the pitch and inconsistency yet again.

The Liverpool boss hinted in his pre-match press conference that he would make changes to his starting XI following the defeat to Manchester City last weekend and he did not disappoint when it came to completely refreshing the team.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Mohammed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Harvey Elliott and Andy Robertson all lost their starting spots, however, it was unfortunately not enough to snatch all three points from the game.

Although the game ended 0-0, Chelsea did have two goals disallowed, with Reece James having a goal ruled out for offside in the first half and a second struck off because of Joao Felix's handball in the 51st minute.

Liverpool, on the other hand, missed many opportunities to find the back of the net and a lack of creativity meant that the visitors were never really able to get stuck into the game from an attacking perspective.

One player who retained his spot in the starting line-up was Diogo Jota, with the Portuguese forward deployed on the right to fill the boots of Salah.

Unfortunately, it now feels unlikely that he'll keep his starting berth when the Reds welcome table-topping Arsenal to Anfield on Sunday.

How did Jota play vs Chelsea?

Jota quickly became a fan favourite on the red side of Merseyside after completing a £41m move from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2020 – scoring 34 goals and delivering 16 assists over 102 appearances so far.

However, injuries have been unkind to the £140k-per-week star over the past few seasons and, over the current campaign, has rarely been seen, but tonight's display was disappointing and uninspiring in the forward line.

Over his 90-minute performance, Jota even had fewer touches than goalkeeper Alisson Becker (43 v 52) and completed only 23 accurate passes as a marker of his ineffectiveness.

Furthermore, he proved a lightweight in attack having lost 15 physical duels and being dribbled past three times, while his wastefulness was highlighted in his inability to have a single shot on or off target.

The Portugal international's missed chances in front of goal were picked up on by many, including sports design consultant, Dinesh Kumar, who remarked: "You can tell Jota is really struggling with confidence, has to take that chance first time, normally does and more often hits the back of the net."

Indeed, the former Wolves man has now nearly gone an entire year (31 games) without finding the back of the net, in what The Athletic's Caoimhe O'Neill suggested is becoming a "worry" for the club.

Klopp has a number of forwards to pick from with the competitiveness for a position in the front three higher than ever at Anfield, so if Jota wants to remain in contention for starting selection he will need to regain his confidence and prove to his manager he can still offer important goal contributions when it matters most.