Kenny Daglish raves about ‘really important’ Liverpool star

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Liverpool icon Kenny Dalglish has told the Liverpool Echo that Roberto Firmino is still an important player in Jurgen Klopp’s team.

The arrival of Diogo Jota and the form he’s shown has piled the pressure on the Brazilian forward to start finding the goal trail.

Jota has scored seven goals since arriving from Wolves, with Firmino scoring just a solitary goal this season.

Plenty of supporters have suggested that the Brazilian might be at risk of losing his place in the team given his lack of goals.

Dalglish doesn’t think that will be the case though, jumping to the defence of the £180,000-a-week forward.

He told the Liverpool Echo: “I’m not particularly concerned about Firmino. Bobby is a great player with a great touch and gets through an awful lot of work.

“He compliments Mo (Salah) and Sadio (Mane) when the three of them play together, and obviously the four of them played together at City and were good together.

“Bobby (Firmino) is a really important player for Liverpool.”

TBR View – Firmino important but he must up his game

Klopp is loyal to his players but the form of Jota since his summer arrival must be providing the German with a headache.

Against Manchester City, Liverpool unleashed Salah, Mane, Firmino and Jota but it seems unlikely that will prove a regular occurrence.

Last season he fired 12 goals and registered 13 assists in all competitions and he needs to revert to such form.

Firmino does a lot of the ugly work for his team which allows Mane and Salah to reap the rewards.

It remains to be seen whether that will continue to be enough though.

If Jota keeps grasping his chances by finding the back of the net, Klopp could be forced into a difficult decision.