Liverpool got their old form back as they blew away Arsenal in their latest Premier League match right after the international break. The Reds won the match 3-0 thanks to goals from Mo Salah and Diogo Jota.
Jota came off the bench to score a brace in the second half but to everyone’s surprise, the Portuguese international replaced Andy Robertson on the pitch instead of coming on for Roberto Firmino.
At first, everyone thought the left-back was being taken off due to an injury but speaking after the match, Jurgen Klopp went on to explain his team selection and his unconventional substitution.
The manager said in his post-match press conference: “In finishing, yes, you can say that[Jota made the difference]. But I’m not sure if there could have been another player in the position as well, but I don’t want to take anything away from Diogo because he’s in a really good moment.
“We had to make decisions. Look, Diogo played a little bit too much for Portugal for my taste – not criticism of Portugal, just he was long injured, we played him immediately because Bobby was injured and he played too much for us already. Then he went to Portugal and the last two games were really intense, so he felt it a little bit.
“Gini played all three games for Holland, Robbo looks like he plays all the time for Scotland, every second. So we had to make these kind of decisions – some didn’t start, some didn’t finish the game. But in general, we had tonight the choice, that’s very important.
“All the boys in the moment – hopefully it stays like this – had a long enough time after the injury they had maybe, are in a good moment and in a good shape as well. We have opportunities. I could have lined up tonight five, six other players who are all in a good shape.
“Curtis Jones played for the U21s outstanding, Shaq played super, Naby trained outstanding for us, Oxlade is in a really good moment. So that’s the situation we have now and now we have to use that for the tough period coming up. That’s it.”
Everyone thought Diogo Jota was going to start in place of Firmino but the manager clearly wanted to give him a rest since he had played so much football during the international break for Portugal.
But even coming off the bench, the forward made the biggest impact on the match and his two goals should be more than enough to help him secure a place in the starting line-up against Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek.
Gini Wijnaldum should also come back into the side but apart from that, the Liverpool does not have the luxury to make any more changes to his line-up.
