Diogo Jota deserves a lot of credit for how he has hit the ground running at Liverpool, according to Danny Murphy.
Jota became the first player in Liverpool’s history to score in his first four competitive home appearances when he netted in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Leicester City in the Premier League.
The Portuguese forward joined Jurgen Klopp’s side for £45million from Wolverhampton Wanderers in September and has made an immediate impact.
The 23-year-old has bolstered Liverpool’s attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, scoring an impressive eight goals in his first 12 appearances across all competitions.
With Salah unavailable to face Leicester due to coronavirus, it was Jota who was picked out for praise by former Liverpool midfielder Murphy after he got on the scoresheet with a well-timed header from Andy Robertson’s cross.
“There were so many good performances, but Diogo Jota - talk about hitting the ground running,” Murphy said on BBC’s Match of the Day 2.
“He was all over the place. He started on the right of the three, where Salah plays normally, he drifts in into the holes in the centre of the pitch because he is so desperate to get on the scoresheet and make an impact on the game.
“He mixed his game up well, dropped in deep and what I like about him is the amount of runs he makes off the ball. He knows when to go in behind and when to come to feet. He shows bravery in when to find spaces.
“He keeps getting in there. He deserves great credit for how he has adapted to play for a huge club like Liverpool.”
Liverpool were weakened by the absence of Salah, captain Jordan Henderson and summer signing Thiago Alcantara as well as the injured Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, but put in a brilliant performance at Anfield.
Jonny Evans’ own goal from a corner put Klopp’s side ahead after 21 minutes, before Jota’s near-post finish and Firmino’s header from a corner made the points safe.
The result saw Liverpool go joint top of the Premier League table with Spurs on 20 points from nine games, while it also set a new club record of 64 home league games unbeaten.
Liverpool now host Atalanta in the Champions League on Wednesday before travelling to face Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday.
