Liverpool’s victory against Arsenal was crucial for top-four race, says Diogo Jota

Portuguese forward provided the breakthrough as the Reds dominated the Gunners

Liverpool’s Diogo Jota scores his second against Arsenal (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Diogo Jota came off the bench to score twice in Liverpool’s win over Arsenal - a victory the forward believes is crucial in the fight to finish in the Premier League top four.

The reigning Premier League champions will not retain their crown this season but remain in the race for a Champions League spot following a convincing 3-0 success at the Emirates Stadium.

Liverpool dominated proceedings but did not break the deadlock until after Jota’s introduction on the hour.

The Portugal international headed in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross before wrapping up the points after Mohamed Salah had doubled Liverpool’s advantage.

They are now two points off the top four and Jota is targeting victory in all of the remaining league games to makes sure a top-four finish is assured.

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“Very important,” he replied when asked how important the result was in the race for the top four. “I said after the last game, to think about higher spots in the table we need to do our job which is to win every single game until the end.

“If we do that I think we have a chance to be there...I think if we do our job we have a high chance to be there because it is very hard to win in the Premier League. Saturday we did our job, let’s go to the next one.”

Jota also feels the result and performance were the perfect way to prepare for Tuesday night’s Champions League quarter-final first-leg clash with Real Madrid.

“It’s really important,” he told the club’s official website. “It’s another clean sheet, which is really important as well. Everyone is working hard and well and now we have that hard game against Real and we want to do that as well.”

PA