‘Salah might not realise’: Owen claims Liverpool’s goalscorer really needs to thank his £45m teammate

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Michael Owen has claimed on BT Sport that Mohamed Salah owes Liverpool teammate Diogo Jota a huge debt of gratitude after last night. 

Jota needs thanking

Salah scored a brace in Liverpool’s 5-1 demolition of Porto yesterday, as they picked up an impressive victory in the Champions League.

The Egyptian once again showed his goalscoring prowess, as he put Sergio Conceicao’s side to the sword.

But the Liverpool attacker may not have been so prolific if it wasn’t for the unselfishness of his teammates.

For Salah’s second goal it was Jota who created all the space with a lung busting run off the ball.

As Curtis Jones was striding forward, Jota darted to the near post, which took a defender away from Salah and allowed Liverpool’s main marksman all the time in the world to pick his spot from close range.

And Owen said: “I thought Jota played a huge role in it, [he makes a run] which actually takes the defender away and gives him even more space than he had previously.

“We showed a clip before the game of him doing exactly the same for Sadio Mane against Leeds earlier in the season.

“He’s a very unselfish runner is Jota. Mo Salah might not realise it now but once he has a look he’ll thank him for making that finish a lot easier than it could have been.”

Selection dilemmas

Jota was the only member of Liverpool’s front line not to hit the back of the net last night, with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane also on the scoresheet, but Klopp made a point to praise the Portuguese international at full-time.

The £45 million man’s (Sky Sports) display was indeed excellent, even though his work may not capture the headlines.

It will now be interesting to see whether Klopp opts to start Jota against Manchester City on Sunday or opts to go with Firmino.

Firmino did come off the bench to score twice in an impressive cameo, but the Brazilian’s starting place is no longer as assured as it once was due to the consistent excellence of Jota’s displays.