Liverpool started their Champions League campaign in splendid fashion with a 3-1 win over AC Milan at San Siro.
The Merseyside heavyweights conceded an early goal to the Rossoneri through Christian Pulisic, but they made amends before the break with Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk finding the net from corners. Dominik Szoboszlai put the game to bed with Liverpool’s 3rd goal shortly after the hour mark.
It was a resounding performance after a nervy start, but manager Arne Slot could still make changes for Saturday’s Premier League encounter against Bournemouth. We believe Diogo Jota should be dropped from the starting line-up for the home game after a lacklustre showing in front of goal on Tuesday.
The Portuguese star had a poor outing against Nottingham Forest last weekend. He had just 7 accurate passes and missed 1 big chance to score. His performance was far from impressive against Milan too. He managed only 11 passes in 68 minutes and was guilty of squandering two brilliant scoring opportunities.
The former Wolverhampton Wanderers man won just 1 out of 8 duels contested on the night and he was eventually replaced by Darwin Nunez. Slot has made some shrewd decisions in the early part of his managerial career and it could be time to make a change in the no.9 role with Jota failing to deliver twice.
Cody Gakpo started on the left wing for the Reds and produced a quality display with an assist and 7 duels won. He was also efficient in dribbling past his opponents. The Netherlands ace could be a candidate to lead the attack on Saturday with Luis Diaz more or less expected to return on the left side of the attack.
The other option for the manager could be Nunez. The Uruguayan star has been a fringe player under Slot during the early part of the campaign and he could have the opportunity to redeem himself with Jota’s shortcomings since the first international break of the season.
