Diogo Jota could miss the World Cup after picking up an injury against Manchester City
Liverpool forward Diogo Jota saw himself out of the pitch on a stretcher in Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday. A suspected calf injury could see Liverpool’s number 20 potentially miss out on featuring for Portugal in the World Cup later this year. (h/t The Athletic) [subscription required]
Jota started in the left wing against Pep Guardiola’s men and created a number of chances through that channel. However, late in added time, Jota felt his calf and stayed down for a substantial while, triggering the referee to call for support.
The visuals were obviously not great, for Liverpool and for the former Wolves striker, who looked in serious discomfort. However, following scans and other formalities, the club will hopefully announce the probable date of the return for Jota sometime later this week.
Tough period of Diogo Jota
Jota earlier had already missed a major chunk of the season so far due to a hamstring injury and was just making his way back into the squad. This was just his second start in the league this season, the first being at Arsenal.
With the World Cup in November, Jota is practically in a race against time to get fit to represent his country at the event. He would understandably not want to wait for another four years for the chance to play for Portugal at the big event.
In only the eight appearances he has made for Liverpool this season across all competitions, he has racked up five assists, three of them in a single game against Rangers. His absence will be a blow for the Reds who are already without Luis Diaz until the new year.
The Reds have only one natural winger to play on the left, that is Luis Diaz, who is out with an injury as well. Now, with Jota sitting out, the Reds would be sort of cornered to start Darwin Nunez in that position.
Not that he could not play there, but his natural position would obviously be a better fit for him than any other position. However, he could use his pace to create chances for Salah, who tends to shift central at times.
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Liverpool will have to go through this tough run of games ahead of the next international break for the World Cup after which most of the Reds’ sidelined players shall make their way back after their respective layoffs.
