Luis Diaz becomes key Liverpool striker and favourite to start in Carabao Cup Final

Luis Diaz has become the new face of Liverpool's front three as he earns praises from the Reds' boss

Luis Diaz has become the new Liverpool hero while Mohamed Salah continues his quest to become a Liverpool legend. The Colombian made another Premier League start on Wednesday and, despite not being on the scoresheet in a 6-0 win against Leeds, showed all the signs of being on the right track.

Diaz’s first goal in the league came a week ago as he netted against Norwich. Following this, Anfield were loud in acclaiming their new hero. The 25-year-old grabbed his opportunity in the absence of both firmino" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota. Luis Diaz partnered up with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané to become the new front three of the Reds.

With Jota returning from injury, the Colombian international has handed Jurgen Klopp a dilemma over team selection for the Carabao Cup Final on Sunday.

Luis Diaz - New face of Liverpool's forward line

Diaz scored his first goal for the Reds against Norwich as part of a new front three alongside Salah and Mane

Liverpool have relied heavily on their front three over the past few seasons. Players like Salah, Mané, and Roberto Firmino have destroyed the defenses of big teams for fun. Firmino has been, for the past couple of seasons, slightly out of form due to injuries. Jota came in to form a new forward line but was out with an injury this week.

With Firmino and Jota unavailable, Diaz emerged as the new key striker of the Reds and impressed the Liverpool boss. Klopp praised Diaz's goal against Norwich in these words:

"We saw now two games when Luis played – came on or played – where he was absolutely incredible. Today it was hard work for him as well, it was a tricky one, a tricky encounter… It’s good, he’s just an outstanding talent, a really, really good player. I think he is very happy tonight. He should be.”

Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah and Luis Díaz on the scoresheet today.

Does any #UCL team have better attacking options than Liverpool? https://t.co/OVWRNb6CkG

Luis Diaz displayed shades of Luis Suarez and even earned the former striker’s song which was remodeled for the Colombian. This was the way in which Anfield applauded their new hero.

Diaz hands Jurgen Klopp selection dilemma

Luis Diaz's strong performance against Leeds threatens to push Jota to the bench for Sunday's Final.

Days after reducing the gap between them and Manchester City to just three points, as well as relaunching the Premier League title battle, Liverpool have changed their focus to the Carabao Cup. The Reds will play the Final against Chelsea and Klopp has a pleasant dilemma to deal with.

Diogo Jota’s return from injury was a welcome news for the Reds as they had received a setback in the form of Firmino being ruled out. Luis Diaz sent a strong message to the Liverpool boss through his performance against Leeds. He pulled up as good a set of statistics as one can without scoring a goal.

📊 STAT: Luis Diaz vs. Leeds:

• 100% aerial duels won
• 94% pass accuracy
• 68 touches
• 47 passess attempted
• 44 passes completed
• 9 duels won [=most]
• 7 dribbles attempted [most]
• 5 dribbles completed
• 3 duels won [most]

Wow 🤯 #awlive [@Squawka] https://t.co/msWN6Ll31W

As of now, Diogo Jota could be pushed to the bench on Sunday as Diaz looks on course to retain his place alongside Salah and Mané to face Thomas Tuchel’s side.