It would be unfair to describe Liverpool’s recent FA Cup win at Arsenal as the cliched ‘game of two halves’, as the Gunners dominated the first 45 minutes to a far greater extent than the Reds (Purples) did the second. However, there was a 60-second period fairly early in the second half which proved pivotal.

From that point to full time, Arsenal had three shots that were collectively worth just 0.09 expected goals (per FotMob). Liverpool, by contrast, had six goal attempts and its only big chance of the match, with Jota playing a huge part in the upturn in attacking output.

The Portuguese forward struck the crossbar with a header, beating William Saliba in the air despite giving up a 14cm height advantage to the Arsenal center-back. Jota also created two chances, including the only shots on target which the Reds hit from inside the Gunners’ penalty box.

These were notable in that both opportunities were taken by Luis Díaz, the Colombian settling the match decisively with the second of them. He and Jota haven’t had much of an on-field relationship in the past but there is no better time for them to ignite one, with Mohamed Salah away at AFCON for the next few weeks.

Prior to the 95th minute at the Emirates, they hadn’t combined to fashion a goal — though Jota effectively set up Díaz for the equalizer against Bournemouth earlier this season — while they hadn’t generated a big chance in their 1,278 minutes of shared playing time either. In the Premier League, Díaz and Jota linked up to generate just five chances prior to Christmas, with all but one of the shots in question blocked — the other was off target — and none of them worth more than 0.12 expected goals.

This feels surprising, and for two reasons. In all-but-four of their shared starts, the two former Porto players have been next to each other in the front three rather than on opposite flanks (though if there is a mild shock here, it’s that they only have 12 combined starts).

It therefore seems odd that they haven’t generally been helping each other out with chances in these games. Stranger still, both men have proved productive when included together in Klopp’s starting XI.

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In only three of the 12 matches in which Díaz and Jota were on the pitch together for over a half did neither of them contribute at least one goal or assist. The first was the 2022 FA Cup final against Chelsea, followed a week later by the Premier League finale against Wolves. Díaz had Liverpool’s first big chance in both games, Jota wasting one at Wembley.

Their other fruitless shared start was against Everton in October, but ‘Lucho’ was responsible for getting Ashley Young sent off and won the penalty from which the Reds took the lead, so certainly made a mark. And since Jota returned from his latest injury, the pair seem to have clicked, with Díaz assisting him to wrap up the victory against Burnley prior to their shared efforts at Arsenal.

It may be that they were aided by both scoring moves being fast and on the break (though only the latter was officially classified as a counter attack by Opta). Both players are strong at carrying the ball and have good movement in the final third, so facing a defense in some semblance of disarray obviously helps.

But it was interesting that Liverpool looked best at the Emirates when its front three was Diaz, Jota and Darwin Núñez from right to left, the trio having the final three touches of the move for the second goal. As Klopp needs to cover the absence of Salah this could be his best threesome for the front line, particularly as the combination of Díaz and Jota has sparked into life. Their timing could not be better.

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