Steve Nicol has tipped Roberto Firmino to continue to start over Diogo Jota when speaking to ESPN.
Despite Jota banging in a fantastic hat-trick against Atalanta, the Liverpool legend believes that Jurgen Klopp will stick with Roberto Firmino as Liverpool’s starting centre-forward.
Understandably, this selection dilemma was a big talking point after the Atalanta game, and despite believing Jota deserves a start, Nicol thinks he won’t get the opportunity.
“Jota, has to be that far off starting before Firmino. However, I don’t think he’s there yet.
“It is an incredible burst of goals, but I still think Klopp trusts Firmino, and I think Klopp will go with him because of the way he knits everything together.
“Listen, if anybody deserves it, Jota deserves to start, but I don’t think he will, not at the weekend.”
It’s a huge dilemma for Klopp and it’s come at about at exactly the wrong time.
Liverpool face what could be a season-defining clash at the weekend against their great rivals Manchester City.
Klopp will want to have a settled XI going into that game, but Jota’s Champions League exploits have certainly put a cat amongst the pigeons.
We can see both sides of the argument.
On one hand, dropping a man who has just scored a hat-trick in Europe is ridiculous to even suggest.
However, Firmino has formed one of the deadliest front threes in world football in recent years alongside Sadio Mane and Mo Salah, and Klopp knows that’s a combination that has been proven to work time after time.
Klopp needs to get it right ahead of this weekend, and we certainly don’t envy the German as he tries to navigate this selection headache.
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