‘Not at the level’: Mark Hughes claims £50k-a-week Liverpool man not good enough to start

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Mark Hughes has suggested on talkSPORT that Divock Origi isn’t good enough to start for Liverpool because he’s ‘not at the level’ to fill in for the front three.

Liverpool will take on Manchester United today in a mouthwatering FA Cup showdown at Old Trafford, with the away side struggling for form and goals.

Jurgen Klopp’s front three have well and truly lost their form and they are now missing the quality of the currently injured Diogo Jota in front of goal even more.

Former Premier League boss Hughes touched upon how Origi doesn’t have the quality to fill in for Liverpool’s forward line but Jota does.

“It’s a lack of form for a number of their players, ” said Hughes. “Maybe as a group, the obvious one is that their front three isn’t functioning.

“Jurgen has tried to move things around. He tried to freshen things up last time out. That didn’t really work for him. The likes of Origi coming in and not quite at the level of the players that they were replacing.

“And I think it’s difficult. I think they have missed the boy Jota from Wolves that they have signed. Clearly, he was brought in to enable the group to maybe rest the Salah’s, Firmino’s and Mane’s but not have a significant drop in quality. But he’s been injured.”

During Liverpool’s defeat to Burnley in midweek, Origi had a guilt-edge chance to put the team ahead when he was through on goal but his effort hit the woodwork.

It perhaps summed up his time at Anfield and whilst the £50k-a-week star [Spotrac] will be remembered for some memorable goals – Merseyside derby, Barcelona and Champions League final, he has largely been inconsistent.

Now, a lack of regular game time doesn’t help, but Jota, since his move from Wolves, has proven the type of impact Liverpool fans have been looking for from a forward player outside of their usual three.