Diogo Jota surprise emerges as Liverpool timing may be right for Everton
Recent Merseyside derbies have proven something of a marker in Diogo Jota's Liverpool career.
Last season, the Portuguese made his return from a hamstring issue suffered at the start of pre-season with a late run-out from the bench in the goalless draw at Goodison in September.
And the Anfield return the following February was the afternoon that saw Jota back, again as a substitute, from a calf problem that had sidelined him for four months and dashed hopes of appearing in the World Cup.
The forward will have missed only one match ahead of the latest clash with the neighbours on Saturday lunchtime having been suspended from the 2-2 draw at Brighton before the international break after his red card at Tottenham Hotspur the previous week.
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No need for a hard reset this time. And if there is a nagging suspicion Jota is being slightly left behind in the intense competition for places in the Liverpool forward line, the statistics paint a different picture.
Of the 11 games the Reds have played this season, Jota has started five - two down the centre of the attack and one on the left wing. That's the same number of starts as Darwin Nunez, and only one fewer than Cody Gakpo, who was forced to begin the campaign in midfield. Luis Diaz has eight starts and Mohamed Salah nine.
Salah and Diaz have played some part all eight Premier League games, while Gakpo and Jota have only not featured in the top-flight matches where they were injured and suspended respectively. And the one time Nunez didn't appear was when his anticipated arrival at Tottenham Hotspur was dashed by Jota's red
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