Liverpool manager Arne Slott has confirmed that he expects Diogo Jota to be out for weeks, not months.
The Portuguese striker scored a crucial equalizer for Liverpool their recent 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest at The City Ground – his fifth Premier League goal of the season – and had plenty of other chances to win after coming on as a second-half substitute.
The 28-year-old, who signed for £45m from Wolverhampton Wanderers in September 2020, scored 64 times in 164 appearances in all competitions for Liverpool but spent ten separate spells on the sidelines during his time on Merseyside.
He was excluded from the weekend drama A 2-0 win over Brentford – a game in which Darwin Nunez scored twice in stoppage time – and Slot confirmed that Jota will not be fit to play against Lille in Champions League on Tuesday.
“Maybe Jota [will be back] slightly earlier than Joe [Gomez]”, the Dutchman told reporters. “Both are expected to be back with us in a few weeks, not months.
“But I’ve said many times before that the last phase of rehabilitation is the hardest, or the one that sometimes [can] add a few days or not. Clearly, we expect them to be back with us in the coming weeks.
“It’s always hard to say exactly how long. Both of them won’t be out for months, that’s for sure, as long as the rehab goes according to plan.”
Slot then confirmed that Jota’s latest problem was muscle-related, a frequent theme of his Liverpool career. The 28-year-old missed 12 games in a nearly two-month period between October and December with a similar problem, easing back into the team as a substitute before earning a start in the FA Cup third-round win over Accrington Stanley.
Liverpool Nunez is expected to start in the front row in midweek, having all but secured their place in the knockout stages of the renewed Champions League.
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