Liverpool: Should Diogo Jota replace Roberto Firmino in team?

Last updated on .From the section Liverpoolcomments149

Diogo Jota has scored in his past three Liverpool appearances, with manager Jurgen Klopp saying the Portugal forward is even better than he expected - so should he replace Roberto Firmino in the team?

Jota came on for Firmino with 20 minutes to go against West Ham United on Saturday. He struck the winner in a 2-1 victory, becoming the first Liverpool player to score in his first three home Premier League appearances since Luis Garcia in 2004.

Just weeks after signing from Wolverhampton Wanderers in a £41m deal, that could rise to £45m, Jota is inspiring talk among Liverpool fans about whether he could move ahead of Brazilian Firmino in the pecking order.

"We fought really hard to sign him," Klopp said after the win over West Ham.

"He's an exceptional talent. He has the speed, physicality, technique, he's both-footed. He's much better than I thought he would be and that's really impressive."

Since 2017, the first-choice Liverpool front line has been, without any doubt, Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.

But former England striker Alan Shearer said on Match of the Day that Jota has been a "wonderful signing" and ex-Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy believes the Reds' front trio are under pressure for the first time.

Is it time for that to change as Liverpool visit Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday?

In a very unscientific poll in Saturday's live text commentary, over 7,500 people think Jota should start with about 2,200 saying he should not
In a very unscientific poll in Saturday's live text commentary, more than 7,500 people thought Jota should start -with about 2,200 saying he should not

How have Jota and Firmino performed so far?

Jota has been significantly outscoring Firmino this season, despite playing far less football.

Firmino brings more to the team than goals - he is famed for his hard work - but his goal tally has been getting lower for each of the past three seasons, and he has only scored once in 10 games this season.

Jota, on the other hand, has scored four goals in nine games for Liverpool this season. In the Premier League, it is three goals in five appearances, a rate of one every 72 minutes.

Firmino has played 565 Premier League minutes to Jota's 215, although Jota has perhaps benefited from coming off the bench against tired defences.

Jota's goals have been important too, with his last two league goals being winners in 2-1 victories over Sheffield United (Firmino scored their equaliser) and West Ham.

Diogo Jota
Diogo Jota scored three goals in eight days at the end of October

His strike in their previous Champions League game against Midtjylland set Liverpool up for victory before Salah's 90th-minute penalty made it 2-0.

And an 88th-minute goal on his Premier League debut sealed a 3-1 win over Arsenal.

He had the ball in the back of the net twice on Saturday against the Hammers, but the first was ruled out by the video assistant referee for a Mane foul.

Statisticians Opta track how many goals a player would be expected to score from the chances he has. Firmino's 'xG' rating in the Premier League has been 1.85 to Jota's 1.31.

That means Jota, with four goals this season, has scored three times more goals than expected from the chances presented to him, while Firmino's one sole effort is on par considering the quality of his chances.

The pair have the same shooting accuracy (excluding blocks) - 66% - and the same passing accuracy - 81% - in the league.

But Jota led the way in most other comparisons when you factor in the number of minutes they've played - including several defensive measures.

How Jota and Firmino stats compare in the Premier League this season (per 90 mins)
FirminoJota
Goals0.161.26
Assists0.320
Shots1.764.19
Shots on target0.642.51
Chances created (including assist)1.440.84
Touches52.1866.56
Touches in opposition box6.229.63
Passes38.9443.12
Possession won2.875.86
Tackles1.121.26
Clearances0.320.42

How have they compared over the years?

Firmino's stats are more favourable than Jota's when factoring in the previous two seasons.

Jota played for Wolves in the Premier League in 2018-19 and 2019-20 (having played in the Championship for them the season before) before his move to Anfield this summer.

Firmino has had more appearances, goals, assists, chances created, shots and successful passes in that time - while Jota has completed more dribbles.

Firmino has won a Champions League and Premier League winners' medal in that time too.

Since Jota has been in the Premier League, Firmino has had more appearances, goals, assists, chances created, shots and successful passes - while Jota has completed more dribbles

Former Liverpool midfielder Murphy said on BBC Match of the Day: "Jota is giving Jurgen Klopp a problem. That wonderful front three haven't been put under pressure for a long time.

"There were question marks about him with the amount of money.

"He's scoring goals, he's making an impact. He's saying 'don't leave me out'."

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Comments

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150 comments

  • Its one thing to come on and play against defenders and midfield that have been "worked", so far Jota has benefited from all the running and work that Firmino has done ...i'd like to see the reverse situation where Jota starts then comes off, to see how effective he can be putting in work both offensively and defensively , then lets see how Firmino can benefit from a tired defence and goals too

    • LuThe replied:
      Very, very true.

      And you've referred to the defensive work Bobby does - this is no minor consideration and a fundamental aspect of what makes our mid dominant in the harder games against top oppositon - often see Bobby criticised for "not being up top", but if he weren't for him hustling in the mid there'd be no ball up top to play!

      Great to have Diogo, but he a lot of game to learn/replace.

  • Horses for courses.

    At the moment I’d say he’s a perfect super sub whereas Bobby is better as the work horse.

    Let Bobby tire the defence out for an hour, pull them out of position etc , then when they’re blowing get Jota on.

    For the first time in a long time we have genuine competition up front

    • Dyson Sphere replied:
      I think Klopp knows what he's doing, a lot more than the BBC pundits and most of the armchair fans on here!

  • Goals Vs Hardwork. Hmm...seems to me Klopp is doing the right thing. Starting with Firmino and bringing Jota on if he needs goals. Y'know...managing a game.

  • Jota is certainly looking the more potent at the moment. That said, Firmino gas been an integral part of the Liverpool attack for their best 3 seasons in decades.
    Maybe it would benefit Firmino to have Jota replace him for a couple of games to get his competitive juices flowing again.
    I don't believe we've seen the last of Firmino.
    Great start at his new club for Jota though.

    • This comment was removed because it broke the rules. Explain

  • Give Bobby a break and he will be fine. He is still a class player and a valuable asset to the team. Jota brings in competition which is great. However they are different players. I say switch and see the impact over a few games. Bring firmino on as a sub.
    He has been out of form for some time. Protect him from the media as well.

    • matt replied:
      Is 'bobby' your mate

  • Love Bobby to bits. Few players have the vision or the cute class touch to pull off the assists / opening up of space he does. Plus he used to be not only front 3, but drop back and work hard enough to make it seem we had a mid 4.

    But he's not in the best of form.

    That said, Bobby starting and Diogo doing a Fairclough (Supersub extraordinaire!) is working.

    No need for immediate change.

    • Rainfordian replied:
      99% of LFC 'fans' won't have a clue what you're on about ;-))

  • Wonderful 'problem' for Klopp.

  • I think it would be premature to make the switch already, but it's a happy headache for Kloppo to have. And his judgement is the only one that counts.

  • No doubt Jota & Shaqiri were super subs on that particular day , it’s irrelevant and unfair to label who’s better. Anyone can have a good day or bad day. Klopp now has to decide who has performed consistently for the team because after all it’s a team game.
    ⚽️⚽️⚽️

  • Maybe a few games on the bench might help. He has been out of form since the start of the season. That’s why our front three has not been firing on all cylinders. Actually his dip started since the game resumed after lockdown.

  • please don't disrespect Firmino, he may be having a tough time but some people don't realise what he does for the team.

    The game never more so than this season is a squad game, Jota will get plenty of time playing and has been outstanding so far.

    The front 3 has a reputation as the best in the world for a reason, Firmino is part of that.

    • Martarslipstick replied:
      "The front 3 has a reputation as the best in the world for a reason"

      really???- According to who exactly???

  • Jota everyday of the week at the moment, Mane definitely and Salah who to me needs to start playing for the team more.When Liverpool beat Barcelona 4-0 to qualify for the champs league final Salah never played and I honestly believe if he had they wouldn't have qualified.Shaqiri played that night and ran his socks off.At the moment Salah needs to up his game more for the team.

  • Firmino appears to have slowed down. His first touch almost always is heavy and looks laboured. Think he needs to lose weight and get sharper. A lot of times he's loitering around midfield when he should be in the box looking to score.
    I do think Thiago's presence will help him considerably with a steady supply of creative opportunities.

  • Jota is a great addition to our squad, the best Portuguese player in the premier league....by some distance.

    However Firmino is a workhorse and a great link up player.

    Against teams who where we dominate the play and the opposition put plenty of men behind the ball, Jota may be a sensible starter ahead of Firmino.

    • Andinsecondplace replied:
      Best... by some distance, just because he wears a red shirt now? 8 games he wore gold and most of you didnt know him and were startled at his signing.

  • Seems a straight forward decision for me , Firmino's been class for Liverpool but he's gone off tha boil lately whilst Jota looks in good shape. Always pick the players in the best form no matter what their reputation ( This doesn't seem to apply to Gareth Southgate ofcourse. )

  • Sort of. You are comparing different types of players but I wouldn’t expect a simple BBC journalist to understand.

    Minamino is Bobbys like for like replacement. A type of false 9 that drops into the pocket looking for space to link play.

    If you play Jota, Mane, Salah then one of the has to play through the middle. All 3 can and sometimes do but Klopp normally doesn’t start like that.

  • since the end of lockdown there has been a marked dip in Firmino's form. His first touch has been terrible and he's scored very few goals, especially at home.

    I suspect he needs a rest, both mentally and physically, and Jota is clearly the man in form. Firmino isn't, so the decision should be easy to make. Give Firmino a rest and play Jota in the middle.

  • Salahs form isn't that great ompared to when he's at his best.
    Good to have competition in the front 3.

    • lillew replied:
      Sarah has scored more goals, made more assists and has more key goal involvements than any other LFC player this season so far and last.

      He is key to what LFC do.

  • If he’s the man in form he should start but it’s not just about scoring goals

  • Interesting to see a Wolves reject walking into the Liverpool team.

    • LittleMusgrave replied:
      Well we did pretty well with our Chelsea reject didn’t we?

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