How much has Jota improved since joining Liverpool?
Cameron Smith
- 15 Feb 2022 16:35 CST
- 4 min read
Jurgen Klopp has a knack of developing attackers into absolute world-beaters. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino were all good players upon arriving at Anfield, but few would've guessed the roaring success stories they would go on to write as a trio at the club.
While Salah is arguably at his best ever level, the other two, Firmino in particular, have suffered a slight drop-off over recent years. It was something that Liverpool acknowledged in the summer of 2020 when they signed Diogo Jota from fellow Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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He was signed as a rotation option, which can clearly be seen by the fact he played just over 1,000 league minutes during his debut year at the club.
However, this season he has exploded into life, scoring 12 Premier League goals in just 19 starts, making him the division's second top goal-scorer behind team-mate Salah.
His rise to prominence at Liverpool happened almost immediately, but his recognition has only really peaked this season, and it's come to the surprise of many.
Former Reds striker Michael Owen believes the Portuguese international has stepped up a level since he joined Liverpool. "We knew he was a good player at Wolves, but he has gone on again," Owen told the Premier League website.
"It helps when you are playing with great players as well. He’s a very instinctive player – he scores goals in tough situations. All he needs is a yard. Brilliant signing."
But, just how much has Jota actually improved since leaving Wolves and joining Liverpool?
Fox in the Box
Jota's early career was one of a typical winger. His final year at Porto was spectacular, and although he was more of goal-scorer than a creator from the get-go, it wasn't by much - 0.50 goals P90 in comparison to 0.38 assists P90.
This was a theme that continued at Wolves. In his first Premier League season for the club he was scoring 0.34 goals P90, which is the equivalent of once every three games, and assisting 0.19 goals P90, the equivalent of an assist roughly every five game. That's most certainly a respectable tally, and it would've caught Liverpool's eye.
One interesting development, however, was that Jota soon seemingly lost that creativity. In fact, in his final year at Wolves, and his first two at Liverpool, the total of his assists P90 is just 0.09 - a huge drop-off. However, that's simply down to his team-mates letting him down.
His expected assists read 0.15 and 0.15 for his two Premier League campaigns at Wolves, and 0.13 last year and 0.22 this season at Liverpool.
So, Jota has been a consistent force when it comes to creativity, although it has taken a slight rise this campaign.
The main area of improvement has come by the way of his goal-scoring knack.
From a player who was scoring at a rate of 0.34 goals P90 and 0.28 goals P90 in his two English top flight seasons with Wolves, he's now someone who is producing numbers that dwarf that.
Last term, his first season at Liverpool, saw him register 0.73 goals P90, which has slightly dropped to 0.65 P90 this year, although that is simply down to the fact he's playing far more frequently this term.
Jota has transitioned into a predatory finisher at Liverpool, and is yet another example of stellar business in the transfer market by Jurgen Klopp and his staff.
