Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been urged by Anfield hero John Barnes to start Roberto Firmino over Diogo Jota for this weekend’s Burnley clash awaiting the Merseyside giants.
Jota had been given the starting role on the Liverpool teamsheet in the three-man frontline on the opening day of the 2021-22 Premier League campaign which saw Jurgen Klopp’s side triumph 3-0 over the hosts Norwich City.
Klopp’s decision to hand the start to Jota paid off with the Portugal international getting on the scoresheet early on to give the visitors a much-needed lead heading into the half-time break at Carrow Road.
Firmino replaced the former Wolves man on the pitch with a half-hour left to play for and the Brazilian himself added to Liverpool’s advantage by finding the back of the net minutes into his arrival.
Speaking to BestofBets, Liverpool icon Barnes has called upon Jurgen Klopp to draft Firmino into the starting XI owing to his sheer importance in the final third of the pitch for the Reds and the impact he makes on the attacking front for his strike partners Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.
“I’ve always said Firmino is my favourite player of the front three.”Â
“Salah scores goals and Mane does what he does, but Firmino’s the one for me who makes the team tick, so I would always have him.
“So to say that Jota should play instead of the front three, I don’t necessarily feel that’s the case.
“You could actually put him in one of the midfield three, because there are times when, depending on the other two midfield players, that Jota could really add some great strength and he’s played attacking midfield in the past.
“But I don’t feel that Jota should play instead of Firmino. In fact, I think Firmino is one of our most-important players and the reason why Salah scores as many goals as he is; as a withdrawn centre-forward, between himself and Mane, it give them those inward running angles to score goals.
“So I don’t necessarily feel that the fact that he (Firmino) doesn’t score as many goals is not a beneficial deliverable as he’s providing so much more than that.”
