Diogo Jota: 'We're all with Lucho'

Despite scoring the opener in Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat of Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon, Diogo Jota admitted that his and his teammate's thoughts have primarily been with teammate Luis Díaz.

Díaz missed the match after his parents were kidnapped in his native Colombia after the family's van was ambushed at a petrol station by men on motorcycles.

Jota, who took his place in the starting line-up, reflected: "It’s always nice to score goals and obviously for me it’s really important. Especially today as well for Lucho."

The Portuguese forward went to the bench after putting the Reds ahead and raised a shirt bearing the name of Díaz as a show of support.

"We're all with him and it was an important moment for me [his 50th Premier League goal], but for him as well. We’re all with him and I think it was a nice occasion to show him that."

"It’s a situation we can’t even imagine [...] All we can say is we are here for him and hopefully the things work out well in the end."

A "different" Liverpool

Reflecting on the game, the 26-year-old said: "Especially the first half was really good. Obviously [in] the second half they tried to react and we tried to control the game. But in the end it’s a 3-0, so three points, we move [on]."

He explained that this is a "different Liverpool".  "[We've got] different players, different system, different way to play. We are just trying to do our best and things are working well for us. As long as that happens, everyone will be happy."

Jota also alluded to the strength in depth of the squad, after back-to-back wins despite coach Jürgen Klopp making seven changes to the side that beat Toulouse in the Europa League on Thursday night.

"We have a good team, we can make a lot of changes and still perform. We are still involved in a lot of competitions and we go for it. As long as we are winning, everything is fine."