Liverpool are planning another epic title race with Manchester City and are on the HUNT for their own Kevin De Bruyne to make the difference
- Liverpool are looking for their own Kevin De Bruyne to win the league
- The Merseysiders can go five clear today with victory at Bournemouth
- Football is changing… managers cannot rely on their reputations. Just look at the Golden Generation – It all starts
Liverpool are planning another title race epic with Manchester City and are looking for their own Kevin De Bruyne to make the difference.
Jurgen Klopp’s side won the league in 2020 but were also defeated twice by a point as City triumphed on the final day of the season.
The Merseysiders can go five clear with a win at Bournemouth today and striker Diogo Jota acknowledges that the reigning champions’ biggest threat will come from Pep Guardiola.
‘I hope we can continue the discussion until the end. We know how strong City are and how strong they can be in the second round of the competition,” said the Portuguese international.
“We just hope that we can be there too and be part of the fight again, and hopefully we’ll be above them in the end.
Liverpool are planning another title race epic with Manchester City and are looking for their own Kevin De Bruyne (pictured above) to make the difference
Jurgen Klopp’s side won the league in 2020 but were also defeated twice by a point as City triumphed on the final day of the season
“It’s hard because. Obviously we try to win every match and that is our plan. That’s what we’re trying to do against Bournemouth on Sunday.
‘But we know that City are a very strong opponent and that De Bruyne is a world-class player and one of those who can make the difference, as he did two years ago when we were in that title discussion until the last match . He was decisive.
But look, we have those kind of players too and there is still a long way to go before we reach those decisive moments, so we have to focus first on the coming months to try to get there eventually.”
There is extra pressure on Jota and Klopp’s other attackers now that Mo Salah is absent during the African Cup of Nations.
Jota’s return from a muscle injury is welcome. He refutes Alan Shearer’s accusation that he went down too easily to win a penalty against Newcastle in Liverpool’s last Premier League match.
There is added pressure on Jota (pictured above) and Klopp’s other attackers with Mo Salah absent for the African Cup of Nations
Jota described De Bruyne (above) as a world-class player who can make a difference
The Toon legend branded him ’embarrassing’, but Jota replied: ‘Listen, of course I’ve seen some comments from ex-players and people who get paid to talk about situations.
‘All I can say is that even the goalkeeper (Martin Dubravka) said it was a tap and I didn’t feel the conditions to stay up. So that’s it.’
Jota also emphasized that he would ideally put the ball in the net himself instead of giving a penalty to a teammate.
“That’s of course what I like to do: score goals,” he added.
It is up to Jota and players like Darwin Nunez to fill the gap left by top scorer Salah.
‘Mo is a decisive player for us. He is always there and always assists and scores. We miss him, but we have the quality in our squad to share the goals he would probably score himself,” Jota said.
“Maybe he (Nunez) doesn’t score as much as people probably want, but he has assists and that counts too because we are a team and all we want is to win.
Liverpool were beaten 1-0 in their last Premier League trip to the Vitality Stadium in March but have lost just two league games since.