Why Diogo Jota was benched for Liverpool vs Burnley

An explanation for Diogo Jota dropping to the bench for Liverpool’s meeting with Burnley has been provided.

Liverpool are set to take on Burnley at Turf Moor very shortly.

Before kick off, the Reds released their starting line-up, which had a noticeable omission in the form of Diogo Jota:

⭐ ⭐

Here’s how we line up for #BURLIV this afternoon

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 13, 2022

Jota has been one of Liverpool’s standout performers of late, and was one of the main reasons why the Reds’ form did not drop off massively when they lost Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah for over a month due to the African Cup of Nations.

So, Jota being benched so soon after the pair’s return did seem somewhat harsh. However, Jota dropping to the bench was actually injury-related, with the forward having picked up a dead leg in midweek vs Leicester City:

Diogo Jota picked up a dead leg midweek, the reason he drops to the bench. #LFC

— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) February 13, 2022

Burnley vs Liverpool

Liverpool head into their clash with Burnley still looking to make up ground on league leaders, Manchester City.

The Reds are currently 12 points behind City, but that gap would be reduced to six if Klopp’s men win their games in hand.

Liverpool have won three of their last five Premier League outings, with a shock 1-0 loss to Leicester back in December having marked just a second defeat of the season across all competitions.

As for Burnley, they have won just one league game all campaign, and are currently bottom of the English top-flight with 14 points from 20 games.

As a result, a handy win for Liverpool looks very likely this weekend.

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