da bet sport： Liverpool make the trip to the northeast this evening for their Premier League clash against Newcastle United at St James’ Park, and Jurgen Klopp will be hoping that his side can take some confidence and momentum from their first league victory of 2023 in the Merseyside derby last Monday.
da fazobetai： The Reds are currently ninth in the table after a run of poor performances over their first 21 top-flight outings, but taking all three points away could see them significantly the gap between themselves and the top four.
Klopp will be thrilled to see a number of players returning from long-term injuries over the last week, with Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino making their first appearances in months when they were introduced in the second half against Everton earlier this week.
Virgil van Dijk is also expected to return to action after recovering from a hamstring injury which has rendered him unavailable for selection since the first week of January.
As a result, Klopp has a number of options in his squad heading into the clash against Newcastle, and unleashing Jota in the forward line could be the move which helps Liverpool to pick up their second consecutive win.
Will Jota start against Newcastle?
The Portuguese winger has been out of action since he was stretchered off the pitch in stoppage time against Manchester City in October, but after suffering a long-term hamstring injury, his recent return could not have come at a better time for the Reds.
Ahead of the 2-0 win against Everton this week, Liverpool had scored just one league goal in 2023, which came against Brentford in a 3-1 defeat on 2nd January, with new signing Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah struggling to find the net since the turn of the year.
Klopp can now unleash a fresh option in Jota who is not only experienced but also prolific in the team since his arrival at the club in 2020, scoring 34 goals and registering 14 assists in his 94 appearances for the Merseyside giants.
Furthermore, the £140k-per-week star – who was dubbed a “pressing monster” by Pep Lijnders – has past experience of causing chaos for the Magpies, with two goals and one assist in six previous outings against Newcastle.
Indeed, he netted the equaliser in the 3-1 win over them at Anfield last season and set up Naby Keita’s winner in this fixture ten months ago, when the Reds were chasing down the league title.
If Jota is ready to start at St James’ Park later today, it would give Liverpool’s attacking threat a significant boost and could give them an ideal opportunity to secure the much-needed points to climb the table.