Speaking to Off The Ball, Mark Lawrenson has predicted that Diogo Jota will come on as a substitute in the Champions League final later this month.
Liverpool booked their ticket to Paris on Tuesday evening with a dramatic win over Villarreal, and sadly, Jota didn’t have his best game.
Indeed, the Portuguese attacker was rather sloppy throughout the semi-final, and he was brought off at half-time for Luis Diaz.
Diaz’s introduction completely changed the game, and Lawrenson believes that the Colombian has now earned himself a starting spot in the Champions League final, claiming that Jota will come off the bench at some point in Paris.
What’s been said?
Lawrenson spoke about Liverpool’s attacking options.
“He keeps changing it doesn’t he? I don’t think he has to worry about stuff like that, but it just wasn’t a day for Jota and that was obvious to everybody. He came on and did outstanding. Diaz gives this width and this pace and all of a sudden he’s stretched the game out, so it wasn’t an inspired change, it was just a very good tactical change,”
“If you’re thinking about the final now and everybody is fit, he will play Mane through the middle, Salah on the right and Diaz on the left, Jota will obviously come on and he can get you a goal, he ghosts into great positions unlike any of the other four forwards as well,” Lawrenson said.
Embarrassment of riches
These comments from Lawrenson just go to show how ridiculously stacked Liverpool are in the attack.
Cast your mind back to the 2019 Champions League final, Liverpool’s attacking options off the bench were Divock Origi, who scored, an injury-plagued Daniel and Rhian Brewster. This year, they will likely have Origi, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota, that is just ridiculous depth.
The fact that Jota and Firmino are likely to be on the bench for a game this big is almost beyond comprehension, but when you’re arguably the best team in the world, you have the luxury of that sort of depth.
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