The timing couldn’t have been worse for Diego Jota. With a plum fixture against Ipswich(H) next, followed by a double gameweek — Bournemouth(A) & Everton(A), and another easy-peasy tie against Wolves(H), he is again out injured.
The Portuguese striker didn’t travel with the team to West London on Saturday and was a major miss from Liverpool’s 2-0 drubbing of Brentford. After being an instant impact upon his second-half substitution into the Forest game, he felt some discomfort with his muscles. It forced him to skip the following training sessions and eventually drop out from the weekend clash against Thomas Frank’s men.
Nottingham Forest are bringing the memories of their good old days, this season. The glorious late 70s and early 80s. Therefore, Slot was almost at his wit’s end when his team was trailing by 0-1 against Forest at their own backyard.
It was then, when he looked up to Jota who took just 22 seconds to slot the ball home and make things even-steven. The PL critics often argue that Jota should be Arne Slot’s first-choice for the no.9 position. But his injury woes remain a major concern — both for the Liverpool manager as well as the fantasy managers.
The Portugal international has already missed a considerable part of Fantasy Premier League 2024-25 due to a chest problem. He was out for the entirety of the period between GW8 and GW15.
Jota has scored 59 pts in FPL but has featured in only 14 games with just 7 of them being starts. Five goals and three assists in 622 minutes, is not bad after all.
He carries a great attacking threat, as his xG shows 0.71 per 90’, which is higher than many of the listed forwards from the premium category. And this is the best part of having Jota in your FPL team.
He mostly plays out of position — as a no.9. Don’t forget that, as he is listed as a midfielder in the game, he fetches you a point extra whenever he finds the net. Also, there’s another route to get an extra point — through clean sheets.
Diego Jota still costs you £7.2m and remains a great differential with an ownership around 3%. However, he is likely to be on the sidelines for another few weeks.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has shed some light on Jota’s injury in the pre-match press conference of the Lille clash in the UCL — “He overloaded a certain muscle a bit.” The Dutchman also added, “Maybe Jota will be back a bit earlier than Joe[Gomez]. Both of them are expected to be back with us in weeks rather than months. But I’ve said many times before that the last stage of rehab is the most difficult one. It’s clear that we are expecting them to be back with us in the upcoming weeks.
“It is always difficult to say exactly how long it is. Both of them are not going to be out for months, that’s for sure as long as the rehab goes as planned.”
However, you may just wait for a few gameweeks for Jota to get fully fit, before bringing him into your FPL team. And in case, you already own the former Wolves forward, transfer him out for the time being.
There is no dearth of quality midfielders in Fantasy Premier League 2024-25 and you may opt for Morgan Rogers(£5.5m), who has now three plum fixtures in a row — West Ham(H), Wolves(A), and Ipswich(H). He has just come out of suspension and is likely to enjoy a high ceiling over the next three gameweeks.
Moreover, Rogers would save you some money in the bank, which you can later spend on buying managers while using the now revealed ‘Mystery Chip’ — the Asst. Manager chip. It happens to be his breakout season and the Villa frontman looks razor-sharp with six goals alongside five assists.
