Rio Ferdinand believes Diego Jota has put Roberto Firmino under “huge pressure” at Liverpool following a Champions League hat-trick against Atlanta on Tuesday.
Jota replaced Firmino in Bergamo after coming on as a substitute in last week’s 2-1 win over West Ham United and scoring the decisive goal.
The Portuguese international has scored 10 goals in his first nine Liverpool matches and Firmino has only netted once, his place in the squad could be in jeopardy ahead of a trip to Manchester City on Sunday.
“I’m sure Firmino would have compiled a little playback list to show Klopp what he was capable of doing,” Ferdinand said.
“Firmino, whether he likes it or not, will want to get started and this guy has put a lot of pressure on him.”
Listen to Jurgen Klopp’s post-match press conference in a post-game podcast from Blood Red and more here
Seeing is only six shy of the telly that reached all competitions for the Wolverhampton Wanderers last season and Fertinand was impressed with his link-up game with Italy’s Sado Mane and Mohamed Salah.
“He’s on a better team, getting better chances,” Ferdinand continued. “He already has more chances in his time at Liverpool than he did at Wolves last year.”
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“He was also playing extensively last year. I like the thing against these three, he’s almost like you [used to need] A big man in your team.
“It was like you had to be a big man, a target man, a little bit different, but those three are very similar players.
“They’re all the same height, very fast, aggressive and strong. Their overall game is something that people don’t associate with the little man. They’re in really good combination.”
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