Diogo Jota Prepared For Tough FA Cup Battle Against Arsenal
Less than two weeks ago, Liverpool hosted Arsenal for 1-1 top of the table draw in the Premier League. On Sunday, they are making their way down to the Emirates to play against the Gunners in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.
Would Liverpool have wanted a team like Arsenal this early in the competition? Probably not. But that’s how it played out, and so now Jürgen Klopp may start some of his big guns to ensure that the Reds make it to the next round
Diogo Jota is one of the players expected to make an appearance. He made his return to the team on Boxing Day against Burnley, where he scored a late goal. He picked up an additional assist against Newcastle a few days later. Now he’s ready to dive back in with the team for the tough battle ahead.
Regarding the Arsenal match, Jota understands that it will be a challenge to get a win away against a hungry Arsenal team.
“Arsenal [are] a great team, no doubt about it. They are maybe not in the best run of form at the moment, but they are a big team and the game they played at Anfield was proof of that,” he said.
“It was a lot of intensity, teams really going for each other, and we dug out a draw that was not what we wanted, but they were able to do that.
“Now, like I said, they are not in the best run of form, so maybe they look at this cup as a very important competition for them. We go there, it’s going to be tough, 100 per cent, but we can go there and win.”
Jota shares my frustration at starting off their FA Cup run with such a difficult game.
“I think especially in the first round that we are in [the competition] we get this trip to Arsenal, it doesn’t get much tougher, but it’s part of the draw and we know that we can go there and beat them and that’s what we want to do.”
Liverpool have a long and storied history raising the FA Cup. It’s a great trophy to add to the case, and it’s also another good way to get the fringe players some big game time in the winter and spring, depending on how far they get in it.
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