How much will Diogo Jota's injury impact Liverpool's season?
Liverpool have been rocked by an injury to Diogo Jota which could see the attacking midfielder sidelined for up to two months.
The Portuguese attacker joined the Anfield side in September of this year but quickly established himself as one of Jurgen Klopp’s key attacking players.
So how much will Jota’s injury impact Liverpool's season?
Jota the goalscorer
The most obvious thing that Jota has brought to Klopp’s Liverpool side is an eye for goal, which was sorely missing through injuries and dips in form from the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
In 17 appearances Jota has nine goals so far this season. And while that total may be second to Salah in Liverpool’s squad, when we break that down to averages per 90 minutes Jota actually moves into first place with 0.79 P90. Which not only beats Salah’s 0.72 P90 but is almost twice Mane’s 0.41 P90.
What’s interesting about Jota sitting top among Liverpool’s more established goalscorers is that Salah and Mane have a higher xG P90 and average around the same number of shots as Jota. The Portuguese forward just seems to be far more accurate and efficient in front of goal.
A creator of goals
While Jota is unquestionably a goalscorer first and foremost for Klopp’s side this season, his ability to create goals shouldn’t be overlooked.
Liverpool’s main source of creativity comes from their marauding full-backs and central midfielders, but Jota is currently averaging 1.49 key passes P90 and 0.25 expected assists P90 - both of which have him sitting sixth in Liverpool’s squad in each metric.
Although the attacker hasn’t yet picked up an official assist this season, there’s little doubt that Jota has played an important role in his teammates scoring goals. And that, along with his goalscoring, will be sorely missed.