A £40m bargain! The stat that shows why Jota is becoming a Liverpool great

FT Desk
FT Desk
  • 10 Feb 2022 22:11 GMT
  • 3 min read
From Jota to Thiago: Rating all of Liverpool’s signings in 2020/21
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Diogo Jota was once again on hand to confirm all three points for Liverpool on Thursday night, as Jurgen Klopp’s side ran out 2-0 winners of Leicester City.

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The Portugal international has been nothing short of remarkable since making the move to Anfield and he wasted no time at all in proving that once again against Brendan Rodgers’ team.

Indeed, Jota’s first goal came shortly after the half-hour mark, when he latched on to a rebound to calmly roll the ball into an essentially empty net.

Despite the back-and-forth nature of the game, the pacy forward then stepped up again a few minutes from time to double Liverpool’s lead and confirm all three points when none other than central defender Joal Matip found Jota in the box, allowing the forward to fire a shot into the bottom left corner.

Jota’s brace on the night now means that he’s bagged 17 goals and three assists in just 30 games for the club this season. And after the match a stat emerged which perfectly illustrated just how good the 25-year-old has been since he joined Liverpool from Wolves in 2020 for £40.23 million.

Jota’s remarkable start at Liverpool

Thursday’s return for Liverpool now means that the forward has bagged an impressive 30 goals in 60 games for the Anfield side. And according to Opta Stats Football Data Editor, Michael Reid, Jota’s return now means he joins a very exclusive club of Liverpool legends that also managed to complete the feat.

Not only does the nine-man list include club legends like Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush, but it also has some modern greats like Fernando Torres, Daniel Sturridge and of course, Mohamed Salah.

What’s even more impressive is that Michael also confirmed that when ranked based on how many minutes they played, Jota was in fact the third most efficient in terms of goals per 90 minutes.

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