Liverpool have been handed a fresh boost in Diogo Jota’s road to recovery after the Portuguese striker was forced off with an ankle injury against Inter Milan in the Champions League last week.
They play Leeds United at Anfield on Wednesday knowing that a win would close the gap to league leaders Manchester City to just three points.
Having taken 16 points from their last six games, Liverpool are the Premier League’s form side. They were handed a fresh chance to re-assert their title credentials by Spurs’ last-minute triumph at the Etihad on Saturday, with Jurgen Klopp’s men now the only club with a realistic chance of toppling City.
Jota’s replacement against Inter, Roberto Firmino, reported a muscle injury after the match.
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Liverpool inch towards the quarters after Firmino and Salah down Inter - ratings and analysis16 February, 2022Speaking after his side’s 3-1 victory over Norwich City on Saturday, Klopp said: “We made a lot of changes but two we had to make in Diogo and Bobby [Firmino]. Both were not available. We really don’t know 100 per cent (when they will be back).
“With Diogo, it looks a little bit better than we first thought. With Bobby we didn’t even know he had something until he felt it after the game. We all thought it was a little thing but it’s a muscle injury and we have to see how long it will take, I don’t know at the moment.”
Klopp also confirmed that Trent Alexander-Arnold was only absent because he was rested and the right-back was not injured. Andy Robertson was also given a breather at the weekend with his understudy Kostas Tsimikas stepping in at left-back.
Jota has established himself as Liverpool’s starting striker this season and has been one of the club’s form players, scoring 17 goals in all competitions. Only Mo Salah (with 17) has scored more Premier League goals this season than Jota (on 12).
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As the campaign goes on, their trip to Manchester to face City on 9 April is steadily becoming more and more likely to be a title-deciding fixture.
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