Liverpool has so much attacking talent that it is going to be hard to fit it all when all are fit. As it stands, though, one ‘pressing monster’ should lead the way.

Despite having gone as long as a year without scoring a goal at one point last season, Diogo Jota ended the last campaign by netting seven times in the final nine matches.

The previous season, when he was at his best until the final couple of months when his 12-month goal drought began, Jota scored a total of 21 goals and provided another eight assists.

So far in pre-season this summer, the Portugal forward has looked sharp as well, netting twice late on against Karlsruher. He should have netted against Greuther Fürth too but put wide when through on goal. He had created that chance himself by stealing the ball back in the final third and had earlier hit the post from a tight angle when he went around the goalkeeper.

Jota spent much of last season on the sidelines and was in a rut without finding the back of the net for a long period, but he has a history of being a streaky player. When he is in form, the goals tend to come regularly.

In Darwin Núñez and Cody Gakpo, there is plenty of competition for a starting role through the middle in the Liverpool attack. Luis Díaz is likely to be the first choice on the left, but Jota could play there as well, of course. As it stands, he is the one closest to having the ideal blend of s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s that Liverpool needs.

“He has this positioning in the box where he is often on the right spot in the right time,” assistant manager Pep Lijnders said of Jota in 2021 (via Liverpool’s official website). “This intuition in the box, this pure instinct, that is something that is so difficult to coach. I still find it really difficult to coach that attribute.”

Right now, that is something that Jota is better at than his number nine rivals. Núñez has that elite-level finishing in his locker but a confident Jota, right now, is at a higher level. The Uruguayan is still finding his top form at Anfield.

“He has so much future in his feet,” Lijnders had previously said (again via Liverpool’s official website) when Jota arrived from Wolves in 2021. “He will have a great part [to play] inside our club. He is like a pressing monster. He will fit in straight away.”

Gakpo, of course, who also slotted in straight away, is excellent at pressing but Jota brings both aspects: the instinctive attacking traits that are required to grab goals from nowhere, but also the intelligent off-the-ball work that Jürgen Klopp requires.

It is the perfect combination of s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s that the Liverpool boss is looking for and represents double threat: someone who can finish, but also create through intensity out of possession.

Counter-pressing was the ‘ticket’ into his team, Klopp said in a press conference at the back end of last season. For a number nine, scoring and ticking that box is vital and Jota offers both. As it stands, the Portugal forward should be the leading contender to lead the line on the opening day at Chelsea.