Rio Ferdinand believes Diogo Jota has put Roberto Firmino under 'huge pressure' at Liverpool following his Champions League hat-trick against Atalanta on Tuesday.
Jota replaced Firmino in Bergamo after coming on as a substitute and scoring the decisive goal in the 2-1 win over West Ham United last weekend.
The Portuguese international has scored 10 goals in his first nine Liverpool appearances and with Firmino netting just once, his place in the team could be under threat ahead of the trip to Manchester City on Sunday.
"I’m sure Firmino will be sitting there compiling a little playback list to show to Klopp to remind him of what he’s capable of doing," Ferdinand said.
"Firmino, like it or not, will want to start and this guy’s put him under huge pressure.”
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Jota is already just six shy of the tally he reached in all competitions for Wolverhampton Wanderers last season and Ferdinand was impressedby his link-up play alongside Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah in Italy.
“He’s in a better team, getting better opportunities," Ferdinand continued. "He’s probably already had more opportunities already in his time at Liverpool than he probably did last year at Wolves."
"He was probably playing wider last year as well. The thing I love about this front three, it’s almost like you [used to need] a big man in your team.
"It was like you had to have a big man, a target man, a bit different, but they’re three very similar players.
"They’re all the same height, very quick, aggressive and strong, their all-round game is something people would not associate with a small man. They have a really good combination.”
