Liverpool star Diogo Jota had a night to remember in the Champions League yesterday evening with a stunning hat-trick away to Atalanta.
The Portugal international joined Liverpool from Wolves in the summer and it didn’t initially look clear if he’d see a huge amount of playing time for the Reds, but he’s impressed greatly in recent games.
MORE: Video: Diogo Jota seals hat-trick for Liverpool after lovely outside-foot assist from Sadio Mane vs Atalanta
Jota has now scored for Liverpool in four consecutive games, with one goal in each of the recent fixtures against Sheffield United, Midtjylland and West Ham before his treble against Atalanta.
The 23-year-old also netted in the win over Arsenal earlier in the season, bringing his tally for the season to seven already, which is more than Roberto Firmino has scored for Liverpool in the whole of 2020…
? Diogo Jota has now scored more goals for Liverpool in 2020 than Roberto Firmino
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?? Minutes Played – 480
?? Goals – 6?? ??????? ???????
?? Minutes Played – 2405
?? Goals – 5 pic.twitter.com/p5FgnZuLPu— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) November 3, 2020
See above for WhoScored’s tweet on this before Jota went and scored his third last night, with the summer signing overtaking Firmino’s goal tally for this calendar year in significantly less playing time.
This is pretty incredible from Jota, and perhaps backs up what former LFC defender Paul Konchesky told CaughtOffside about Firmino’s place possibly being under threat.
“He (Firmino) brings more than just goals, but it is a massive worry that he’s not scoring many,” Konchesky said. “It might be why Jota has come in and maybe he’ll play a bit more than Firmino now.”
While no one can doubt Firmino’s quality, there is an argument he should score more than he does, and Jota’s flying start really illustrates that.