Sadio Mane is not Liverpool’s most missed player and he proved it yesterday

Liverpool players celebrate as Diogo Jota scores against Nottingham Forest

In a season of dismal injuries and unwanted absences, Jurgen Klopp felt as good as Diogo Jota.

A hamstring injury, which worsened during one of the first training sessions of Liverpool’s pre-season tour of Thailand in July, has ruined his summer and sidelined him until early September.

Jota’s waiting period only lasted around six weeks before his World Cup dream with Portugal was shattered by a serious calf problem in the closing stages of the 1-0 win over Manchester City October 16.

Officially, Jota has been fit and ready since February, but after spending around six months on the treatment table in those two editions, the No.20 has failed to make the kind of contribution that has seen him score 21 goals. last season for the Reds.

So far it seems. After a two-goal volley in Monday night’s 6-1 win over Leeds, the quiet and unassuming striker added another pair to the weekly tally as Liverpool cruised through a tough game against Nottingham Forest at Anfield with a victory nervous and hard won 3 – 2. .

How Klopp will have wished he could pick an iota better at other times in the season, especially in a terrible January when he was also without Roberto Firmino and Luis Diaz. Defeats to Brighton, Brentford and Wolves could have been different stories had the ‘Portuguese guy’ been ready to leave.

His apparent resurgence may have come too late in the day to salvage Champions League hopes, but his clinical double win did at least help close the gap with fourth-placed Newcastle to six points before visiting Tottenham Sunday afternoon.

In a season where lazy pundits have hinted that Sadio Mane was a huge failure at Liverpool, the truth is that Klopp regrets the absence of this version of Jota even more. How different would this season have been if he hadn’t had calf and hamstring problems?

In an uneventful first half – played with a low intensity usually reserved for the pre-season program – Liverpool struggled to create clear chances from open play.

Forest’s inability to defend balls in the box gave the Reds the best route to goal, but Jota turned down a glorious chance for his third chance of the week from a tantalizing Trent Alexander-Arnold free-kick after Virgil van Dijk saw a header bounce off the crossbar. Keylor Navas. The visitors had Neco Williams to thank early in the half when he fired from the line from Cody Gakpo’s header.

Solid deliveries aside, it was all too slow and unwieldy with little skill to open up a stubborn and crowded Forest rear, despite Alexander-Arnold making the best of it from the new central midfield role he’s taking up when in possession of the ball.

As the first half threatened, Liverpool finally opened the scoring after the restart from a set piece when Jota headed in after Fabinho kept the chance alive from another dangerous Reds corner.

Williams shot Forest level moments later thanks to a deflection from Andy Robertson that wrong-footed Alisson Becker in the Liverpool goal. The Welsh international has chosen not to celebrate against the club that helped him become a Premier League player.

If Jota’s former showed his poaching instincts, the latter was top notch as he planted Robertson’s delivery in the box on his chest before slamming into Navas with his left foot.

“He IS the Portugal boy, better than Figo you know,” roared the Kop as they dusted off last season’s catchiest patio tune. It’s one that unfortunately hasn’t aired as much this time around.

To their credit, Forest refused to accept their fate and continued to create their own problems with the long pitch tactic. Morgan Gibbs-White hit a low volley past Alisson after a pass into the penalty area was only half cleared by Van Dijk.

Liverpool were starting to look as susceptible to Forest’s long balls as their visitors were to dead-ball deliveries and it looked as though the outcome would hinge on who’s Achilles heel was the bigger goal.

It would turn out to be Forest when Mohamed Salah miraculously flicked another ball into the penalty area, this time with his stick to the end of Alexander-Arnold’s right leg. Another assist for him in his new role. It was the Egyptian’s 183rd for the Reds, equaling him with the iconic Robbie Fowler and just three behind Steven Gerrard, who was quite impressed as he watched from the director’s box.

The Reds worked hard for it, but back-to-back victories saw them suddenly smelling the top four again. He may still prove unsuccessful, but there are still 21 points on the line. They couldn’t, could they? TO KNOW MORE…

Nottingham Forest fans unveil banner at Liverpool away match in honor of Hillsborough victims

A banner expressing solidarity with the victims of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster is held by Nottingham Forest fans at Anfield (Image: Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Nottingham Forest fans unveiled a banner six minutes into their match against Liverpool at Anfield to end the chanting of tragedy.

The 9m high banner was held aloft by traveling fans at the start of the first half of the sides’ Premier League match as Forest fans sent out a strong message of respect for the 97 victims of the Hillsborough disaster and solidarity with survivors.

The abuse from the stands aimed at Reds fans has increased this season, with chants referencing the 1989 tragedy. But today was a different story. Liverpool fans at Anfield cheered