Origi shows he has a Liverpool future after Jota's miss of the season

Robin Bairner

• 4 Dec 2021 11:16 CST
• 3 min read

If Divock Origi wants to prolong his Liverpool stay, he picked a timely moment to remind manager Jurgen Klopp of his qualities.

With the Reds being stifled to a scoreless draw against Wolves away from home after watching Premier League leaders Chelsea lose 3-2 to West Ham earlier in the day, the Belgium international took it upon himself in a 22-minute cameo to once again emerge as the hero.

Origi has never developed into the “world-class” player that Brendan Rodgers envisaged when he arrived at Liverpool from Lille in 2015, but that has not stopped him scoring a selection of critical goals.

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Derby winners against Everton and, of course, ‘that’ strike against Barcelona in 2019 will forever remain in the memory, but come May, Origi’s effort at Molineaux may provide just as vital as those.

In a three-way title race with Chelsea and Manchester City, points won in such circumstances can be priceless.

Liverpool misfire

Liverpool had dominated the encounter against Wolves but, up against a stubborn back five from the home side, showed little of the clinical efficiency that has defined their recent performances.

— Ryan Taylor (@RyanTaylorSport) December 4, 2021

This was typified by Diogo Jota’s incredible largesse just before the hour mark. After a muddle between Romain Saiss and Jose Sa, the Portuguese raced into the box only to fail to score when he fired straight at Connor Coady from six yards. It will rightly be remembered as one of the misses of the season.

But it was not just Jota who was having an off day. Even the great Mohamed Salah was struggling to hit his best level.

As so often in his Liverpool career, when the chips were down, Origi came off the bench to come good.

He now has two Premier League goals in barely half an hour on the field this season, showing Klopp that he still has a role to play.

Origi’s deal is up next summer and could leave for nothing in July, but would Liverpool really want to lose a bona fide super sub? Not on this evidence.