Diogo Jota took 22 seconds to settle the Liverpool No.9 debate

Diogo Jota was in deep conversation with Kostas Tsimikas as the Liverpool duo waited to enter the City Ground.

The clock was ticking towards the halfway mark of the second half and Arne Slot’s side were still trailing until Chris Wood’s opener.

Despite all their possession, the Premier League leaders had not had a single attempt on target. They needed inspiration as in-form Nottingham Forest, seeking a seventh consecutive league win for the first time since 1922, held on.

Jota and Tsimikas remembered how they combined to score Liverpool’s winner at the same venue in the FA Cup sixth round in March 2022.

“I was just saying, ‘Let’s do it now, recreate your assist, take the corner,'” Jota told TNT Sports. “It was one of those occasions where everything went well. I scored with my first touch, which I thought gave the team a bit of momentum. But I’m not happy because I think we could have won.

Set-pieces haven’t been a strong point for Liverpool so far this season, but Tsimikas’ delivery was perfect and Jota headed home his eighth goal of the campaign in all competitions. Talk about instant impact.

It was the fastest goal ever scored by a Liverpool substitute in the Premier League era – with the Portugal international celebrating just 22 seconds after entering the pitch. It was also Liverpool’s first league goal directly from a corner since Virgil van Dijk scored against Arsenal in October.

If bringing in left-back Tsimikas for the struggling Andy Robertson was a no-brainer, Slot deserves credit for thinking outside the box and being bold (not for the first time this season) since the introduction of Jota in place of Ibrahima Konate led to Ryan Gravenberch. sink deeper as a makeshift central defender.

“We brought in a striker instead of a defender just to play even more attacking football than we already were doing because we needed a goal,” Slot explained. “Scoring from set pieces was not something I had in mind when I brought them both on.”

Liverpool were a different proposition with Jota rather than Luis Diaz up front. The Colombian failed to put a shot on target in the 75 minutes he spent on the pitch and, as his heat map below shows, often found himself drifting into deeper positions rather than in central and elevated areas.

Jota, on the other hand, buzzed with intent and destabilized the Forest defense with his movement and combativeness. If not for the heroics of goalkeeper Matz Sels, they would have won the match.

Despite only coming on in the 66th minute, Jota had more shots on target (three) than any of his teammates. He provided the spark for this frenetic finale.

It has been a difficult time for the former Wolverhampton Wanderers striker, who has not started a top-flight match since suffering a chest injury against Chelsea at Anfield in October.

After being out for two months, he scored on his return to the bench as he grabbed a point for 10-man Liverpool against Fulham in mid-December.

However, some discomfort remained and Slot has managed it carefully ever since. Jota had to be patient, but Tuesday night was a big step forward for him. He looked stronger and livelier.

“Diogo had a big impact when he came on against Fulham, but after that game he had a bit of a setback,” Slot said. “Then in the games he came in afterward, I also felt he needed a little more time to get his rhythm back. It’s not just with him, I also see it with other players who have been out for a few weeks or months. It’s difficult to get that intensity straight away in Premier League matches.

“It was very pleasing to see tonight that he could have been better than against Fulham. He had a big impact. It was he, apart from Mo (Salah), who had a few opportunities to score a second goal.

Darwin Nunez will return to contention for Saturday’s trip to Brentford after serving a one-match suspension, but Jota deserves the opportunity to start. Playing Diaz in the middle worked well at times, but the Colombian, who made way for Curtis Jones, struggled against Forest’s physicality and offered little threat.

Jota is undoubtedly the most complete number 9 at Slot’s disposal and keeping him fit and firing will go a long way in determining what Liverpool achieve this season.

They remain in the driving seat of the Premier League title race, despite dropping points for the fourth time in their last seven league matches.

Liverpool’s frustration at failing to find a winner was compounded by the relief of returning home after avoiding a damaging repeat of the defeat they suffered against Forest at Anfield in September.

Alarm bells rang in an erratic first half when shoddy defending allowed Wood to shoot Forest in front early on. The decision-making has let Liverpool down on several occasions, as so many promising openings have come to nothing.

They looked shaken in the hot atmosphere at the City Ground. “We’re in your head, Arne,” chanted the home fans, who dreamed of a first league double against the Merseysiders since 1962-63.

Slot’s post-match assessment that it was “98 minutes of total domination” was certainly too generous. Happy to let Liverpool win the ball back and then counter when moves broke down, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were comfortable in the opening 45 minutes, with Sels having little to do.

But the second half was a different story as the visitors attacked with more energy, quality, determination and composure. The changes energized them. No club has gained more points from losing positions than Liverpool (14) in the Premier League so far this season and you have to admire the power of recovery.

In the end, the statistics suggested a discrepancy: Liverpool’s expected goals (xG) were 1.99 to 0.31, 23 shots to six, seven on target to three, 52 touches in the opponent’s box to 17 and 71% possession. Forest did not have a single shot after the 63rd minute. They held on until the end.

However, Liverpool will be kicking themselves for taking so long to hit their stride. It was Jota who brought them to life.

(Top photo: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)