Decent at Wolves, devastating at Liverpool: Why Diogo Jota fitted in so quickly

Diogo Jota scored his eighth goal of the season in Liverpool's 3-0 win over Leicester on Sunday, continuing his stunning run of form since joining Jurgen Klopp's title winners in the summer.

The transfer fee of £45million seemed like a lot for a player who had been impressive, though not outstanding, at Wolves but just like Sadio Mane's move from Southampton in 2016/17, this looks to be another example of superb recruitment at Liverpool.

Creating competition within the squad

Klopp needed a forward to challenge Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah for a place in the first team but not a superstar who wouldn't be happy competing for the chance, and so signing an ambitious, determined player like Jota made total sense. He has had to work to earn a place in the first team and work harder to keep it, and this drive to impress and play is exactly what the manager needs to foster the sort of competitiveness in his side that kills complacency and keeps the winning culture alive.

Identifying players at the right stage of their development and career is crucial to Klopp's success at Liverpool. Mane joined for £37million at the age of 24 after scoring 22 league goals in 67 appearances over two seasons at Southampton, a team with ambitions of the top four trapped beneath the glass ceiling of high-spending, bigger clubs. Jota moved for £45million at 23-years-old having scored 16 goals in 68 league games for Wolves, who are in a similar predicament today.

The profile of players that Liverpool recruit fit the manager's planning and the club's ambition. Both Jota and Mane were high performers in the same division and ready to make a step up at an age that meant their peak years would be spent at Anfield, and often those who do sign have a statistical output lower than their potential suggests it should be.

Jota's Opta data this season paints the profile of an unleashed Salah, which makes sense considering he has essentially played as the Egyptian's understudy:

Jota's 2019/20 statistics while playing for Wolves are more similar in style, although not volume, to Mane:

Again, this is to be expected. Mane played for the title winners, Jota featured in an upper mid-table side. These numbers were sure to increase when surrounded by better players, and that is precisely what has happened.

Identifying players to suit the system

Identifying players who fit the specific parameters and attributes that Klopp wants and which suit the team's tactical system isn't easy, even if in hindsight Jota seems like an obvious purchase.

The Portugal international's positional flexibility is an enormous plus, with Jota able to play anywhere across the front as winger, inside forward, attacking midfielder, or even centre-forward, while his pace and ability to run with the ball suits Liverpool's quick, direct attacking style of play. It's what he does off the ball that really makes the difference.

His goal against Leicester was an example of this. Liverpool lined up in their usual 4-3-3 shape and attacked with two full-backs high up the pitch, with Jota playing the right forward role. In the build-up to the goal, Jota can be seen wide right, with Mane central ahead of Roberto Firmino, who regularly drops into the 10 space. James Milner has the ball.

Play is switched to the opposite flank with Andy Robertson. Naby Keita moves into the forward line from midfield. Jota drops slightly deeper between the Leicester defensive lines.

Keita's move into the front three is vital and means Leicester's three centre-backs are now occupied one v one, leaving one actual forward (Jota) free.

This allows Jota to float behind the Leicester midfield unmarked, which means when Robertson beats Marc Albrighton on the wing, he can run into the box where Liverpool have an overload of attackers.

Keita then cleverly pulls out wide to stretch the defence while Mane runs across his defender to create space behind. Jota runs towards the gap between the centre-backs.

The cross from Robertson is powerful and Jota need only glance his header towards the corner to beat the goalkeeper.

Without this intelligent movement by Liverpool's forwards isolating, then confusing, the Leicester defenders, Jota wouldn't have been able to score this goal. Without Jota's own off-the-ball movement, Robertson wouldn't have had such a dangerous target to aim towards.

Jota moves constantly and when surrounded by team-mates operating on a similar frequency, players like him flourish.

Why Jota has made such an impact

The difference between Jota and someone like Takumi Minamino, who hasn't really made an impact since joining, appears to be in physicality and mentality.

Minamino goes missing in games in the same way that Firmino does, as he occupies space to support others and maintain the team's shape. This role is crucial to how things work for Liverpool in the final third but means the central forward scores and assists fewer than the the wide forwards. Where Minamino tries to hide in the shadows, Jota actively seeks the ball to make things happen.

It's not that Jota doesn't think about where he's going because clearly he does, but the clever runs he makes are designed to allow him to take advantage of dangerous situations rather than someone else, and these are now recognised by players with the vision to find him in a team which is almost constantly on the attack.

Jota has made fewer tackles per 90 than Salah, Mane, Firmino and Minamino but his other measurable defensive statistics are more or less the same. He's attempted slightly fewer dribbles per 90 than Salah and Mane but made more recoveries, and has very similar passing statistics. The biggest difference according to data is that he shoots slightly more often, suggesting Jota is more of an individual and that he wants to make things happen.

Micah Richards told Match of the Day 2 that Jota would be a nightmare to defend against. "You don't know where he's going to go, he's got so much to his game!" said the ex-full-back, and it is this combined with Jota's determination to affect play and get on the ball which has facilitated his smooth adaption to the Liverpool first team.

Opposition defences will eventually figure out ways to keep him quiet but at the moment Jota is flying. Liverpool have found another gem — and he was in front of us all along.