Diogo Jota scored two goals and set up another in Liverpool's 4-0 win over Bournemouth on Sunday; Jamie Carragher said Jota is the club's best Premier League finisher, ahead of of Mohamed Salah, Michael Owen, Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez - so who is statistically the best?
Monday 22 January 2024 12:27, UK
Jamie Carragher claims Diogo Jota is Liverpool's best Premier League finisher after his double inspired a 4-0 win over Bournemouth.
Jota scored twice and set up Darwin Nunez's first goal as Jurgen Klopp's side extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to five points in the victory on the south coast.
The Portugal forward ranks 15th in Liverpool's list of all-time Premier League goalscorers with 38 goals - but Sky Sports pundit Carragher believes Jota is the best finisher out of all those ahead of him in the list, including current Liverpool top scorer Mohamed Salah.
"I think of some of the strikers I've played alongside: Michael Owen, Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres, Robbie Fowler. I think he [Jota] is the best finisher," Carragher said.
"Robbie (Fowler) maybe [could be ahead of him] in terms of pure finishing, hard and low, into the corner. But [his two goals against Bournemouth are] typical Jota. When he gets the chance he is so clinical.
"This season, he's got a goal or an assist every 84 minutes. There's only two or three players in the Premier League who are higher than that.
"He sums up Liverpool's recruitment over the last five or six years. He's a player who was in and out of the Wolves team, and when he was bought a lot of people were scratching their heads.
"When everyone's fit, he's probably not even playing. But I still think he's a better finisher than the likes of Suarez, Torres, even Salah.
"The only one who can compete with him is Robbie Fowler at the start of the Premier League years."
Carragher also believes Jota could be the best option to replace Salah - who is currently on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Egypt and is out with a hamstring injury - in Liverpool's right-wing role.
"Jurgen Klopp has said how clever a player he is. He can play on the left, through the middle and the right," added Carragher.
"Liverpool are still trying to work out who is going to play that role [through the middle] even though they're winning games, without Salah.
"They've had Diaz there, Jota, Harvey Elliott [on the right]. Maybe it's now Jota's position."
Well Diogo Jota's numbers are very impressive. The Portugal forward averages a goal every 141 minutes in the Premier League for Liverpool - that's a better record than Michael Owen (143) and Robbie Fowler (159).
However, Jota's minutes-per-goal tally is not as good as both Luis Suarez (139), Fernando Torres (121) and Mohamed Salah (132).
When it comes to Salah, out of Premier League players who have played over 1000 minutes of football since the Egypt forward joined the Premier League, only Erling Haaland, Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane have a better minutes-per-goal ratio than Liverpool's No 11.
In terms of how Jota's finishing compares to historical Liverpool forwards, Opta only record data from the 2003-04 season onwards so it is difficult to statistically judge Carragher's comments.
However, over the past 20 years, Jota does have the best conversion rate (19.3%) of any Liverpool forward with over 25 Premier League goals for the club.
After Liverpool's 4-0 win over Bournemouth, Diogo Jota told Sky Sports:
"We have world-class players and when we have them it's easier.
"But we are Liverpool so when we don't have them we still have a good team. We can replace them and share the cost of the game between us to keep going.
"I try to be in the right place at the right time. This kind of feeling comes naturally. My job is to score goals and provide assists."
