Diogo Jota Will Be Absent When Liverpool Visit Brentford

Diogo Jota picked up an injury when Liverpool traveled to Nottingham Forest (Instagram/@diogoj_18).

JAKARTA - Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, doubts about taking Diogo Jota on a trip to Brentford in the 22nd week of the 2024/2025 Premier League, Saturday, January 18, 2025.

Jota suffered an injury when the Reds drew 1-1 against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, January 15, 2025.

"Yesterday (Thursday) we were told during training that he was indoors to do individual sessions (as they often do because they regulate individual workloads)," said Arne Slot.

It turned out that Jota had a problem after her first touch saved Liverpool a point on Forest. Slots will clearly not take any risks.

In that match, a Portuguese player only entered in the 66th minute, shortly before he finally scored the equalizer.

Jota is quite important for Slot because his role as a supersub is unquestionable. He appeared as a hero when Liverpool was deadlocked.

"Jota's importance was highlighted by the importance of his goals. The winning goal against Crystal Palace, the equalizer against Fulham and Forest, was three of his last four goals in the Premier League."

"In terms of the choice to face Brentford, it's not a difficult situation because Luis Diaz can play in the middle and Darwin Nunez is back from suspension."

Apart from that, Slot wants to see his team take advantage of the great opportunities they create.

After scoring five goals in the previous four matches, Mohamed Salah has yet to score in his last two matches.

It was Salah's second-longest goalless trip this season after a three-game goalless run from mid-year to late September 2024.

Meanwhile, Cody Gakpo has not scored in his last two games after scoring in three consecutive games.

Then, Diaz has had three goals without goals. Finally, Nunez scored only one goal in her last 12 appearances.

The record, which is relatively minor from the attackers, would not have been highlighted if Liverpool had maintained the clean sheet as often as they had done at the start of this season.

They didn't concede in 11 of their first 20 games in all. However, since a 2-0 win over Manchester City, they have only kept three clean sheets in 11 games and conceded 14 goals.

So, there is room for improvement at both ends of the pitch if Liverpool want to widen their lead to seven points before Arsenal face Aston Villa on Sunday, January 19, 2025.