Jota Or Firmino? John Barnes On Jurgen Klopp’s Pick Ahead Of Man City Clash

Former Liverpool winger John Barnes said Jurgen Klopp should start with Roberto Firmino instead of in-form Diogo Jota, who recently struck his maiden Champions League hat-trick, for Reds’ upcoming Premier League clash with Manchester City Sunday.

In an interview with talkSport, Barnes said that Firmino is Liverpool’s "better bet" despite Jota’s hat-trick in Liverpool’s latest 5-0 win that came against Atalanta in the 2020-21 Champions League.

"Against Man City, where you’re not going to have as much possession, maybe Firmino will be a better bet. You need a player like Bobby Firmino to not only get hold of the ball but also do his defensive work. If you’re playing a game against Atalanta or Leeds, a more open team, then you can see Jota coming in. It’s the same with Thiago. If you play Man City you won’t necessarily play Thiago, you play Wijnaldum, Henderson, and Fabinho who are much stronger defensively," Barnes told talkSport.

Talking further about Premier League champions Liverpool’s ongoing season, Barnes insisted that Klopp is going to carry several experiments.

"I think Klopp will chop and change this season, and I don’t think it’s a reflection on who he feels is better, it’s more about who they are playing against. Will Firmino’s lack of goals cost him? Well, the reason why Mane and Salah score as many goals as they do is because of the way Bobby plays," added Barnes, who played for Liverpool between 1987 and 1997.

With his maiden Liverpool hat-trick, Jota took his tally to seven goals in 10 appearances for the Reds this season.

The Atalanta game saw Klopp hand Jota a rare start ahead of Firmino, who has been a vital part of the current Liverpool side that has tasted so much success over the last two years.

In the same talkSport interview, Barnes made himself clear that Firmino’s importance is not restricted to scoring goals as he does much more than that while being between Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, who are Liverpool's "main goalscorers."

"Now, if Jota plays maybe Salah and Mane, although they both scored last night, might not score as many goals. So I don’t think goalscoring is necessarily what he’s in the team to do. As much as people may say, ‘Firmino is Liverpool’s main striker’, the main goalscorers are Mane and Salah and Firmino gives much more than that. If we can finish 20-odd points ahead of everyone else and he doesn’t score goals, I’ll be having that all day long, and so would Jurgen!" added Barnes.