In a season of lamentable injuries and unwanted absences, Jurgen Klopp has felt few as keenly as Diogo Jota.
A hamstring injury that was aggravated in one of the early training sessions of Liverpool's pre-season tour of Thailand in July ruined his summer and kept him sidelined until early September. Jota's spell of availability would only last around six weeks before his World Cup dream with Portugal was wrecked by a serious calf problem picked up in the closing stages of the 1-0 win over Manchester City on October 16.
Officially, Jota has been fit and ready for action since February but having spent around six months on the treatment table across the course of those two issues, the No.20 has been unable to deliver the kind of contribution that saw him smash in a career-high 21 goals last term for the Reds. Until now, it seems.
