Gareth Crooks issues hard two-word over Diego Jota’s verdict after  Liverpool penalty decision

Gareth Crooks issues hard two-word over Diego Jota’s verdict after  Liverpool penalty decision

Liverpool were dominant throughout their 4-2 win over Newcastle United on Monday evening but Diogo Jota has faced criticism for the penalty he won

Diogo Jota was brought down by Martin Dubravka during Liverpool vs Newcastle United.

Diogo Jota was brought down by Martin Dubravka during Liverpool vs Newcastle United.

BBC pundit Garth Crooks has become the latest pundit to criticise Diogo Jota’s decision to go to ground to win a penalty during Liverpool’s 4-2 win over Newcastle United on Monday evening.

 

 

Jota, attempting to round goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, was seemingly clipped by the Magpies’ shot-stopper and fell down inside the box to earn the Reds their second spot-kick of the night. Replays of the incident suggested contact on the Reds’ forward was minimal, though Dubravka himself acknowledged after the match he “felt the contact”.

 

Gary Neville and Alan Shearer were far from impressed with Jota’s actions and the same can also be said for Crooks, who has likened the Portuguese’ to a ‘dying swan’ in the way he tumbled over.

 

“The incentive for Liverpool to beat Newcastle was abundantly clear,” wrote Crooks in his BBC Team of the Week column. “Liverpool would go clear at the top of the table and almost without anybody noticing.

 

“On the night Liverpool were awarded two penalties. The contact made on the two strikers involved, in separate incidents, was insufficient to bring either player down but both Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota both went to ground on their own volition. Jota going down having taken two steps after the contact was made.

 

“Twenty years ago you had to be assaulted in the box to get a penalty – now you only need to act like a dying swan,” remarked the former Tottenham Hotspur forward. “Nevertheless [Mohamed] Salah was the difference between the two teams. He scored a goal in open play, missed a penalty, scored a penalty and was involved in two assists.

 

“I said after their match against Burnley on Boxing Day that Liverpool will never have a better opportunity to win the title and must before Salah is tempted away into the Saudi Arabia sunset.”

 

IVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Wednesday, May 25, 2022: Liverpool’s Owen Beck during a training session at the AXA Training Centre ahead of the UEFA Champions League Final game between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid CF. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Owen Beck is in contention to come straight into the Liverpool starting XI following his recall from a successful loan stint at Dundee.

 

 

With Jurgen Klopp keen to protect his only current senior left-back option, Joe Gomez, 21-year-old Beck could feature when the Reds travel to Arsenal in the third round of the FA Cup.

 

And he is likely to be one of a number of changes the manager makes as he accounts for the physical toll of a gruelling festive period.

 

With Caoimhin Kelleher expected to keep his place in the League Cup in midweek, Alisson should come in between the sticks at the Emirates Stadium.

 

Ahead of him, it may well be all change at full-back, with Beck joined by fellow academy graduate Conor Bradley in starting in order to give Trent Alexander-Arnold a much-needed rest.

 

At centre-back, Jarell Quansah feels an obvious pick, the benefits of Ibrahima Konate seeing his minutes managed over Christmas can be reaped here with a start.

 

In midfield, Alexis Mac Allister desperately needs minutes to get back up to speed, while Ryan Gravenberch should replace Dominik Szoboszlai, as he did against Newcastle.

 

Curtis Jones was also rotated over the festive period and so should not be too fatigued to do at least an hour here with midfield options thin on the ground.

 

 

Up top, if Diogo Jota is a nailed on starter against Fulham then Luis Diaz seems a sensible pick on the left, and the same goes for Cody Gakpo coming in at centre-forward to set Darwin Nunez up to feature in midweek.

 

And that leaves Harvey Elliott to take on right-wing duties in the absence of his idol Mohamed Salah, in a potential audition for Wednesday’s game.

 

Liverpool have three days to prepare after the FA Cup fixture for the first leg of their League Cup semi-final against Fulham, whereas Arsenal will not play again until January 20.

 

Potential Liverpool XI: Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Quansah, Beck; Gravenberch,

Mac Allister, Jones; Elliott, Gakpo, Diaz.