Liverpool ran out comfortable 3-1 winners over AC Milan on Tuesday night, although some Reds players weren’t spared from criticism over their performances at the San Siro.
None of the Reds’ goals actually came from their forwards, and Diogo Jota has now gone four matches without scoring since he netted in the Premier League opener against Ipswich a month ago.
Speaking on ESPN FC after the Champions League clash in Italy, Steve Nicol was very pleased with his former club’s overall performance but was disappointed with the 27-year-old’s contribution against the Rossoneri.
The Scot said: “Jota was a little wasteful I thought in the penalty box, but overall in terms of the football it was a great display [from Liverpool].”
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The Portuguese forward hasn’t been his usual clinical self of late, spurning two ‘big chances’ against Milan and, somewhat alarmingly, losing seven of his eight duels (87.5%) last night while also giving away three free kicks (Sofascore).
In the Premier League, his rate of shots on target has dropped from 46.3% last season to 18.2% in the early weeks of this campaign, while his match average for shot-creating actions has dipped from 3.77 in 2023/24 to 1.59 now, despite him starting every game so far for us under Slot (FBref).
Jota has enough credit in the bank over the past four years to preserve faith that he’ll be back among the goals soon, but he’ll be patently aware of the heightened competition for starting places in Liverpool’s attack now that Federico Chiesa has joined an already impressive range of options.
You can view Nicol’s post-match verdict below, via ESPN UK on YouTube:
