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Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones has lavished praise on teammate Diogo Jota for his goalscoring prowess and ability to impact games even when the going gets tough. The Englishman has come up with a new nickname for the Portuguese forward - "the ghost".
Ahead of the Reds' League Cup semi-final second-leg clash against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Wednesday, 24 January, Jones said as per Liverpool's official website:
"I'm at the point now where I call him 'the ghost' because he's one of them where you think he's not involved in the game, and then he'll pick up the ball and it'll turn into a goal! I've been around a lot of world-class strikers from my Academy days into the U21s and then the [senior] team and he's right up there. When the game isn't going his way, it's quite easy for a striker to not be on the ball and not impact the game, but Jots is always in the game."
"Even when, say, his touch is a little bit loose and it's not going right, the ball will bounce around the box and it's a Jota goal, and you think, 'Only Jots could do that! To have him in the team is amazing. He's a huge help, he always runs and when his confidence is the way it is now, there's no doubt that in every single game he's going to get goals," the Liverpool midfielder added.
Jota has been in excellent form for Liverpool this season, registering 11 goals and four assists in 22 appearances across competitions.
“He’s absolutely out of this world” - Jamie Carragher heaps praise on Liverpool star after Bournemouth win
Liverpool secured a 4-0 victory over Bournemouth in their Premier League clash at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday, 21 January. After a rather timid first half, the visitors turned up the heat with four second-half goals.
Jota set up Darwin Nunez's 49th-minute strike before scoring two goals of his own. Nunez then found the back of the net in stoppage time, capping off an emphatic performance from Jurgen Klopp's team.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher lauded Jota's performance against the Cherries. He praised the Portuguese attacker for his extraordinary finishing and said (via Empire of the Kop):
“Finishing-wise, I think he’s as good, if not better, than Torres, even a Suarez, even Salah! Finishing-wise. And maybe the one who can really compete with him is probably Robbie Fowler in the early days of the Premier League with those types of finishes."
“He’s absolutely out of this world,” Carragher added.
