During the yawning, four-month gap between Premier League starts for Diogo Jota, it's fair to argue no-one emerged from the pack to become Arne Slot's undisputed No.9.

Having pulled up with what was described as an upper-body injury in the 2-1 win over Chelsea way back on October 20, Jota was made to wait 119 days for his next start in the top flight, with the Portugal international featuring for just 133 minutes of a possible 1440 played between his two most recent starts.

Goals against Fulham, West Ham United and Nottingham Forest were still registered during such a limited amount of game time but it's been another campaign of injury frustration for a player who has averaged just 19 Premier League games a season since his September 2020 move from Wolves.

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Interventions against Fulham and Forest, specifically, have been vital to the title-chasing Reds, rescuing points on both occasions and it was noticeable how much more fluid Arne Slot's side looked in the first half of Sunday's nervy 2-1 win over Wolves.

The No.20 had more than a hand in the opening goal with a smart turn and pass to eventual goalscorer Luis Diaz, while he also forced Jose Sa into an excellent save after Andy Robertson's low cross had caused chaos inside the area. The heavy touch taken before the tumble that eventually saw a penalty decision overturned was curious, but having played so little football, it was understandable that Jota would tire.

The overarching concern, however, will be that prior to his latest 64-minute cameo, where he was replaced by Darwin Nunez, Jota had featured for less than 10% of the Premier League action played by Liverpool since he got injured against Chelsea. A fitness setback after his instant impact at Forest last month disrupted progress and his absence for draws at Arsenal and Newcastle were certainly felt.

The fact that Jota was still able to register the same amount of goals as Nunez during that period, however, speaks to how clinical the Portuguese can be and just how tough the Uruguay striker has found it in front of goal in a Slot system that has not been designed to supply him with a large volume of shooting opportunities like he had in Jurgen Klopp's tactical framework.

Nunez registered 11 times in the Premier League last term with an xG (Expected Goals) of 16.3, while this season, the figure stands at just 3.4 from the 20 appearances and seven starts. The former Benfica man averaged exactly three shots a match during his 36 games last time out with a shooting accuracy of 43% compared to figures this term that stand at 1.25 per fixture and accuracy percentage of 40.

Just four of his 24 Premier League goals for the club have come this term and half of those arrived in stoppage time at Brentford last month. As Slot's system has taken root, Nunez's effectiveness has become diluted.

It's why there has inevitably been speculation over his future and while interest from Saudi Arabia is believed to persist, Liverpool had no qualms over keeping their No.9 at the club for the second half of a campaign that now sees them in mid-February as big favourites for the league title.

Beyond this season, however, it is fair to speculate what happens next for a player who is believed to be currently level with Virgil van Dijk as the most expensive player of all time at the club at £75m. Add-ons that are due around achievements such as Premier League and Champions League success could yet see that figure swell to £85m in total. Liverpool have not had a real return on their investment.

Prior to Sunday's game, Diaz had started 10 of the previous 12 games as the makeshift No.9 and while the experiment started in explosive style, with a hat-trick against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, its returns have diminished considerably in recent weeks. The Colombia international's bundled effort against Wolves - from a game he started on the left-wing - was his first goal since late December.

All three players offer imperfect solutions for the No.9 conundrum: Jota's inability to put together an uninterrupted spell of fitness; Nunez's stylistic unsuitability; Diaz gamely playing out of position.

Slot might well have been struck by the performance of Matheus Cunha down the other end on the day, particularly when the Brazilian curled in a superb strike to make it 2-1 for his 12th of the campaign. The 25-year-old is a player who, according to the Reds boss, is good enough to play for a club inside the top six of the Premier League.

Such was his influence, in fact, that Wataru Endo later revealed he was sent on with the specific aim of man-marking Cunha and limiting his time on the ball. "Defensively I have to go everywhere and follow (him) and cover all over the pitch," Endo conceded.

"He's a type of player that I'm referring to when I always say when I compare the leagues that I've worked in and this league," Slot said of Cunha. "I don't know exactly where Wolves is at the moment – 17th?

"If you go to the Dutch league and you look at the number 17, there's no player that can play for Ajax, PSV or Feyenoord. But Matheus Cunha is a quality player and he has the quality to play for one of the top five teams in England."

Elsewhere in the Premier League, speculation around 17-goal Alexander Isak gently persists and while Newcastle United would be determined not to lose their talismanic top scorer, it would be no major surprise to learn the Sweden international has admirers inside the corridors of power at Anfield. Arsenal continue to be linked, tentatively, but Liverpool might also be in need of a centre-forward in the coming months.

Much of the difficulties up top, which - when you factor in Liverpool's overall position this term - should be a term ringed in inverted commas, have been masked by Mohamed Salah's frankly ridiculous output of 28 goals and 19 assists.

Not officially credited with the assist for Diaz on Sunday, owing to Emmanuel Agbadou's sliced clearance, the Egyptian has still weighed in with 47 official goal contributions. The second best at Anfield this season is Cody Gakpo with 21. Diaz is now on 15 and Nunez and Jota are tied on 10 apiece.

Between now and the end of the season, it's all hands on deck for a title-chasing Reds side but a major conversation over the occupant of the No.9 role is hurtling down the line for Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes.