MANY believed Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge would disintegrate with Mohamed Salah at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. The Egyptian has scored more goals than any other player for the Reds this season and so there was good reason to believe Jurgen Klopp’s team would suffer a drop-off in his absence. If anything, though, Liverpool’s title chances have improved without Salah.

This doesn’t mean Liverpool are a better team without him. Salah – who is currently back at Liverpool receiving treatment for an injury picked up playing for Egypt at AFCON – is one of the best players to have ever played for the Anfield club and remains among the Premier League’s sharpest finishers. When Salah is available again, he’ll be immediately back in Klopp’s lineup.

Against Bournemouth on Sunday, though – and over the last three weeks since Salah left for AFCON – Liverpool’s remaining attackers stepped up. Chief among them is Diogo Jota who has registered five goals (including two in Sunday’s 4-0 win at Vitality Stadium) and four assists in his last nine appearances.

Jota is the natural finisher Liverpool need to win the Premier League title this season. He might be somewhat unconventional in some of his methods – see his air-shot before scoring Liverpool’s third goal against Bournemouth – but there aren’t many better at finding ways to put the ball in the back of the net.

“His football brain, he is a very smart footballer, that’s how it is,” said Klopp when recently asked in an interview to describe Jota’s qualities after the Portuguese’s return from an injury that sidelined him for a month between November and December. “He understands the game particularly well.

“I really think Portugal is blessed with some of these kind of players who really understand the game on a different level – and he is one of them, definitely. It gives him a chance to see situations slightly earlier, to adapt to different things the opponent is doing a little bit quicker. That’s it, on top of that he is both-footed and a great finisher.”

With Jota alongside Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez, as was the attacking lineup against Bournemouth, and the option of Cody Gakpo off the bench, Liverpool boast an extremely mobile and inherently dangerous frontline that can cause problems for any opponent. At the top of their game, they are nearly impossible to stop.

The partnership between Jota and Nunez has been particularly eye-catching. While Nunez has been utilised as a supply line to Salah for much of the season, setting up the Egyptian for no fewer than five Premier League goals, Klopp’s decision to shift the Uruguayan to the left wing on Sunday helped create space for Jota in central areas.

Nunez is a force of nature when given the freedom to get in behind opposition defenders and stretch the pitch. He might not be the most clinical of finishers, but Nunez makes Liverpool a more dangerous team as a whole and Jota is one of the players who benefits from this. The pair work well together.

Even within Anfield, most believed this season would be a transitional one for Liverpool. They rebuilt their entire midfield over the summer transfer window and appeared to be retooling for next season, possibly the one after that. Nobody expected Liverpool to be so firmly in title contention at this stage.

Liverpool, however, are getting stronger as the season progresses. Their new-look midfield is operating well, their defence is stronger than it was last season and attackers – like Jota – are showing they can carry the team when Salah can’t be counted on. This might prove to be a pivotal period in Liverpool’s campaign, but not in the way so many predicted.

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