Diogo Jota reacts in only way he can to Darwin Nunez threat in Liverpool's West Ham clash
After being dropped for Darwin Nunez on Saturday, Diogo Jota responded with a goal after 25 minutes as he returned to Arne Slot's starting line-up on Wednesday against West Ham United.
The Portuguese forward managed to nod Federico Chiesa's acrobatic cross past West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and tie the game, after Liverpool defender Jarel Quansah scored an unfortunate own goal. It meant that Liverpool was only behind for four minutes, in a competition that Slot would be keen to win.
Liverpool has made a strong start to the season, with four wins in five games across all competitions heading into Wednesday's Carabao Cup game. Slot has only made changes to his team on occasions, leaving little room for Nunez who has been used off the bench.
Nunez was handed his first start of the season against Bournemouth on Saturday, where he scored in a 3-0 win after Luis Diaz celebrated a brace. Slot decided to start both Nunez and Jota against West Ham, with the latter finding the net first.
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With Jota being picked as Slot's No. 9 to start the season, it's led to growing concerns over the future of Nunez at Liverpool. When asked ahead of Wednesday's game what Nunez needs to do in order to start regularly, Slot said: "Same as all the others. Work really hard and then the goals will come.
"I think that’s what he did when he came in against AC Milan. First of all, you come in for the team. And then as a result of that, attackers score goals or assist.
"That’s also what happened to Cody (Gakpo), but it happened before with Lucho (Diaz), Mo (Salah), and Diogo. If you play in a team like Liverpool, you will always score your goals or get your assists.
"For me, it’s mainly about the work we do without the ball, and that they can score goals and that they can assist I know, and that’s the same with Darwin. He will get his chance in the near future, we play a lot of games and I think he’s fitter and fitter now, and understands day by day better what we expect from him.
"But he’s in competition with Diogo who, in my and our opinion, has done really well in the last games."