Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has insisted that Diogo Jota’s fine form has not given him any selection headache over Roberto Firmino ahead of Sunday’s crunch Premier League clash against Manchester City.
Diogo Jota, who joined the Reds from Wolves in the summer, has thus far scored seven goals in 10 appearances in all competitions for his new employers, with three of those coming in the Merseyside giants’ 5-0 rout of Atalanta in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Roberto Firmino, on the other hand, has struggled for goals since last season. The Brazilian netted only 12 times in 2019-20 and has found the back of the net just once in the present campaign.
With Diogo Jota replacing Roberto Firmino in the starting XI against Atalanta and scoring a hat-trick, it has been suggested that the Portuguese could start against Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday.
However, Jurgen Klopp was quick to state that he has no selection headache. The German tactician also heaped praise on Roberto Firmino, while applauding Diogo Jota’s display against Atalanta.
The Liverpool boss said in his post-match press conference:
“Good performances never give me a headache.
“That was the decision tonight, it made sense to use the shape Diogo was in, and because of the way Atalanta plays and defends, it made sense that the skillset of Diogo helps.
“But the world is sometimes really in a bad place when the moment someone’s shining, we speak immediately about another player who had played what feels like 500 games in a row.
“We would not even be in the Champions League if Bobby Firmino wasn’t with us, and immediately I have to explain why he’s not in the team. He will be in the team.
“For a lot of people in the world, if you asked them what makes Liverpool on Sunday special, they would say the way Bobby Firmino is playing.
“It’s important for us that we have more than 11, and tonight Diogo used his shape in an incredible way and played a super, super game.
“But that says nothing about Bobby and has nothing to do with causing me headaches. I’m more than happy that the boys played like that tonight.”
It remains to be seen if Roberto Firmino starts against Manchester City at the weekend.
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