Jamie Carragher believes that there is a great chance that Liverpool would have beaten Manchester United on Sunday had one player started at Old Trafford.
Liverpool must be wondering how exactly they did not secure the three points against Erik ten Hag’s side. The Reds had 28 shots on goal during the game, and absolutely dominated the first-half.
However, they were punished for not taking their chances. Darwin Núñez was one of those who squandered some brilliant opportunities to put the game to bed.
And ultimately, Mohamed Salah’s late penalty was only enough to earn Jurgen Klopp’s men a point. With that, Liverpool missed the chance to return to the top of the Premier League table.
Jamie Carragher says Liverpool may have won with one player starting
Of course, Liverpool have a number of players still to come back from injury, including Diogo Jota. Jota has not featured since the win over Brentford in February.
Jurgen Klopp recently suggested that Jota is closing in on returning to training. But speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast, Jamie Carragher felt that the Portuguese could have made a massive impact on Sunday’s game.
“I think the one player Liverpool have missed here today is Jota. They need him back badly because Liverpool score a lot of goals, but they also miss the most chances in the league,” he said.
“I think they’ve hit the woodwork more than any other team in the league. So when you think of the finishers they’ve got, Salah gets the goals, but the others are a bit scruffy. They get goals. But are they clinical enough? And I just think of some of the situations Nunez had today, and I think if Diogo Jota is on the pitch for Liverpool today, I think there’s a great chance they are coming away with three points.”
Diogo Jota has been the Reds’ most clinical goalscorer this season
As shown by FBRef, Liverpool have two players in the top 10 in the Premier League when it comes to the worst performance against their expected goals tally, with Darwin Núñez third and Luis Diaz tenth.
They also have one player in the top four for the best performance in the division. And that is Diogo Jota.
The £40 million man has scored nine times in the league this season, with five of those goals coming between Boxing Day and his most recent top-flight appearance.
So it would be massive for Liverpool to have him back in the near future. Clearly, Carragher believes that he is desperately needed.
The post 'They need him': Jamie Carragher thinks Liverpool may have won vs Man United had £40m player started appeared first on TBR Football.