Former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch believes new signing Diogo Jota is capable of breaking up the Reds’ typical attacking trio of Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
The Portuguese star bagged a hat-trick as the Premier League champions dispatched Atalanta 5-0 in the Champions League away from home in Bergamo.
There has been calls for Jota to now replace Firmino in the Reds’ starting XI for this weekend’s colossal clash with title rivals Manchester City.
And former Red Crouch believes the Brazilian will be worried about his team-mate’s glittering form of late, with Jota operating centrally in last night’s game.
“Salah started through the middle and then drifted out wide and it’s like they know that someone then needs to take that central position,” Crouch told BT Sport (via the Echo).
“Jota did it fantastically and he’s doing it on a number of occasions. He just looks so sharp. We never thought you could break up the front three with Firmino as well but if I’m him, I’m slightly worried.”
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Throughout his career Jota has typically been used as a striker, with his outstanding pace allowing him to be deployed on the wings as well.
This was taken advantage of during his time at Wovles, with Raul Jiminez and Adama Traore taking up the other spots in Nuno’s attacking line-up.
Jota and Firmino can co-exist at Liverpool, though – they occupy similar spaces but play different roles. There will be games that call for their specific skillsets, and there’s no chance Jurgen Klopp will drop Bobby indefinitely any time soon.