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Liverpool boss Arne Slot shares what he’s got planned for Diogo Jota in the Premier League title race run-in

Giuseppe Labellarte

Wed 19 February 2025 7:15, UK

Liverpool remain top of the Premier League table by seven points after they won their weekend game.

Arne Slot’s Reds ran out 2-1 winners over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday to keep them at a healthy distance from Arsenal.

However, the Gunners ran out 2-0 winners over Leicester City on Saturday to maintain the pressure on Liverpool.

Diogo Jota made his first start in the Premier League in around four months against his old club over the weekend.

And speaking ahead of Wednesday’s meeting with Aston Villa, Slot shares what he’s got planned for Jota in the title race run-in.

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Diogo Jota in line for ‘a lot of minutes’ for Liverpool

Slot, speaking to the , said the Reds had missed Jota in wake of the injuries that have plagued him this season.

The Reds boss then said Jota is in line for “a lot of minutes” if all goes well, though he doesn’t expect the forward to play the full 90 minutes in the next three games.

“A role like many others,” said Slot. “He’d done so well before his injury and, I think I’ve said it during the weekend, I couldn’t even remember when his last start was for us in the Premier League.

“I think we’ve missed him for three or four months because it was Chelsea in October, that’s a long way back, so we’ve missed the No.9 that played in the first seven or eight games every single one for almost three or four months.

“Now he is back. He played 60 [minutes on Sunday] and with a decent amount of games we play now, you don’t expect him to play 90, 90, 90 in the upcoming three, but he will be involved in hopefully all three and hopefully with a lot of minutes as well.”

How Jota has fared this season

Jota is arguably one of the Premier League’s most underrated players, the kind of player who doesn’t kick up a fuss if he doesn’t start regularly and delivers when called upon.

Jota has made 15 appearances this season, of which eight have been starts, and has registered five goals and two assists.

He has also scored twice in four League Cup appearances and once in two FA Cup outings for a total of eight goals and two assists from 1,134 minutes of football.

However, Jota received criticism from the likes of Chris Sutton for his apparent dive in Sunday’s win over Wolves.