Deadly Diogo boasts Prem's best goal rate

Liverpool's Premier League title defence may not have gone to plan, but the form of forward Diogo Jota offers hope that they can at least bag a top four spot this season. 

In a campaign blighted by injuries to key players, the Reds were without 24-year-old Jota from mid-December through to early March after he sustained a knee injury in a Champions League clash with FC Midjylland prior to Christmas. 

After three games without a goal on his return, Jota nows looks up to speed and his double in Liverpool's impressive 3-0 win at Arsenal at the weekend took his tally to an impressive 12 goals in 22 games for the Reds in all competitions since his £41m move from Wolves last summer - and closed the gap to fourth-placed Chelsea to two points, with Liverpool currently sixth in the table. 

It's a very healthy return from the former Porto and Atletico Madrid man, especially considering he has only made 13 starts and completed the full 90 on just four occasions in a Liverpool shirt.

In fact, Jota's strike rate in the Premier League is unrivalled this term - his eight top flight strikes coming in just 730 minutes of football, at an average of every 91 minutes.

Jota's minutes-per-goal rate is actually the only one under 100 minutes in the Premier League at present: his nearest competitors coming in the form of Gareth Bale (112mpg), Jesse Lingard (124mpg) and Harry Kane (129mpg) - the latter moving top of the Prem goal charts at the weekend after a double in Spurs' 2-2 draw at Newcastle took him to 19 goals for the season. 

Although his rapid strike rate is certainly impressive, Jota has some way to go before he boasts the best across Uefa's 'Top 5' leagues this season, as Atalanta's Luis Muriel currently tops this stat category with an incredible average of a goal every 57 minutes in Serie A in 2020/21. 

📈Best mins-per-goal rates in 20/21 (#PL):

9⃣1⃣mpg: ⚡️DIOGO JOTA⚡️
1⃣1⃣2⃣mpg: Gareth Bale
1⃣2⃣4⃣mpg: Jesse Lingard
1⃣2⃣9⃣mpg: Harry Kane
1⃣3⃣3⃣mpg: Kelechi Iheanacho
1⃣3⃣5⃣mpg: Mo Salah#LFC @empireofthekop pic.twitter.com/mitYIVN1Bv

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) April 5, 2021