Arne Slot acknowledged that Liverpool will need a stroke of luck to keep Diogo Jota fully fit this season.
However, he revealed that his coaching staff has devised a comprehensive plan to maintain the striker’s long-term availability following his impressive performance in Wednesday’s 5-1 victory over West Ham United in the Carabao Cup.
The Portugal international scored twice, netting goals on either side of halftime to offset Jarell Quansah’s own goal, while Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo also contributed with a brace each, securing a spot in the fourth round.
Jota’s tally for the campaign now stands at three, including his opening-day goal against Ipswich Town.
When asked how he plans to ensure Diogo Jota can play for extended periods – especially after enduring a challenging couple of years with injury issues – Slot admitted that some fortune is necessary.
“How do we keep Diogo fit? Rotate!” Slot said.
“I think we are trying to manage his minutes in the best possible way, but we also try to prepare him in the week and the months of pre-season to prepare them for so many games in the Premier League.
“But sometimes there are small margins and you can be unlucky as well.
“If you saw what happened with (Manchester City’s) Rodri (ACL injury against Arsenal), that is so, so unlucky for him.
“So it is about preparing in the best possible way but in the end you need a bit of luck as well.
“But the players can be as professional as possible, live in the best way for their career and that is what they have done so far.
“And we as a staff prepare them to get them through without injuries.
“I think Diogo deserved [the goals], he played a lot of good games for us already and he is only on the scoresheet in the first game against Ipswich.
“But he has been important in every game, but a striker always wants to score goals, so I am pleased for him and he got two from the 10 position.
“He (Diogo Jota) scored two really good goals and Cody I think it was 10 or 15 minutes before the end he cleared the ball from his own 18-yard box and that is also what he brings to the team.
“Apart from scoring two goals, I see him in training and the way he hits the ball around the 18 yard box with incredible speed, so I am not surprised to see him scoring like this and he scored a similar one last year against West Ham, so no surprise to see him score with the way he did.
“But it is also about them defending in their own box.”
Slot added: “You always start to learn, not too much, only ask him about new players, I constantly told you guys how many quality players we had and you all knew and we showed that today we have many quality players.
“What pleased me most is a lot of new players don’t try to have a good individual performance, they try to work hard for the team, because there was a lot of desire to keep a clean sheet and as a result of that we had some good individual performances because of that.”
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