Pressure Mounts On Brendan Rodgers As Jota Brace Downs Foxes

Diogo Jota scored a brace as Liverpool piled on the misery on the Foxes with a 2-0 win at Anfield on Thursday night. 

Both teams were meeting for the third time this season with the Foxes having secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory in the reverse fixture after being narrowly knocked out of the League Cup by the Reds on penalties. 

It’s safe to say Jurgen Klopp’s men were out for revenge and revenge they got at Anfield courtesy of Jota’s brace. 

How it went down at Anfield

The Foxes could have taken the lead early in the game but Alisson Becker was on hand to deny James Maddison.

Moments later, Trent Alexander-Arnold came close for the home side but his strike from the edge of the box was saved by Kasper Schmeichel in goal. 

Just after the half hour mark, Jota opened the scoring for Liverpool. Virgil van Dijk rose highest to connect with an Alexander-Arnold corner kick, an attempt which was parried by Schmeichel but was duely taken advantage of by Jota, who struck the rebound into the net with his right foot.

Liverpool almost doubled their lead just before half-time but Schmeichel was once again in the right place to deny Roberto Firmino. 

Luiz Diaz who was playing in his second match for the Reds and his first full match in a Liverpool shirt, put up a solid and impressive display but couldn’t influence the game much before being substituted. 

Mohamed Salah was back in action for Liverpool after his AFCON 2021 final disappointment. He came in as a substitute in the second half along with Harvey Elliott, who was playing his second game since his return from injury.

Salah was a nuisance for the Leicester defence with Schmeichel having to be at his brilliant best to deny the Egyptian of a 17th league goal of the season. 

In the 87th minute of the match, Jota grabbed his and Liverpool’s second goal of the game when he fired a pass steered at him by Matip. A brace against the Foxes means Jota has now scored 17 goals in all competitions for Liverpool this season. 

The Foxes who were without their hitman, Jamie Vardy, had some moments in the match but weren’t clinical enough to get a goal. 

With his brace against the Foxes, Jota became the only player to score 3+ goals with his left foot, right foot and his head in the Premier League this season. 

The Portuguese seems fond of playing against Leicester as he has now scored eight career goals in 11 appearances against them. 

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All eyes are now on Brendan Rodgers, whose Leicester side have now lost their third out of their last four matches in all competitions.

The former Liverpool boss told BT sports reporters after the game that the match was was to “restore pride” more importantly.

“Tonight was not just about the result but about restoring pride,”  Rodgers said.

“You saw the supporters clapping the players off. They gave everything and had moments of quality. We kept a really tough team in it until the very end.

“We just lacked that bit of care in the final third of the pitch, otherwise, we could have made more chances.”

Klopp on the other hand was full of praise for his side after the match particularly singling out Jota as the standout performer after his brace against the Foxes.

“Leceister are a really good team. The set up was a little like they played against us in the first league game,” Klopp said. 

“I don’t think they had moments that we had to defend. We had bigger chances and we deserved the win. It was for sure not the best we ever played but it was really good enough win.

“The second goal is a brilliant goal. A counter-press, I love it. Jota with a little genius moment to put it into the right spot. The first goal is really when you are in a goal scoring moment, when you are there. He is in that. Really happy for him and for us.”

Implications of the match on both teams

Leicester sit 12th on the log, a vast contrast to their previous campaign where they were amongst the top six in the league.

They currently have 26 points from 21 games, throwing a major doubt on their chances to secure European football like they did last season. 

Meanwhile, for Liverpool, the win means they have reduced Manchester City’s lead to nine points effectively keeping their title hopes alive.

The Reds will play Burnley at Turf Moor on Sunday while Leicester play hosts to West Ham.

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