It is pretty clear that Jota is Celtic’s talisman going forward. He is their only player to score in the Champions League this season and the Hoops certainly missed his presence on the left-wing, when they came up against RB Leipzig. It turned out to be a 2-0 defeat for Ange Postecoglou’s side, who drew another blank in front of goal despite creating the better chances of the two.
Jota was substituted off at half-time against St Johnstone at the weekend. And while it had initially been described as ‘fatigue’, it feels like there might very well be more to it.
Jota did not even make the bench against RB Leipzig and one would think that Postecoglou would at least have him as a substitute, if he was even close to full fitness. And the manager’s comments did not sound positive, when it comes to the Portuguese star’s chances of featuring against Hibernian at the weekend, although it looks like the problem is nothing serious.
As reported by The Scotsman, Postecoglou said regarding Jota’s situation:
"“Jota is still a bit sore today.“He needs a bit of investigation. It’s nothing serious. It may still keep him out of the weekend but we will see how it goes.”"
Jota could end up missing Celtic’s weekend clash against Hibernian as well
It goes without saying that Celtic could do with Jota going forward at the moment, because they seem to have completely lost their way in front of goal.
The Hoops were scoring for fun earlier on in the campaign but have only managed 6 goals from their past 7 appearances. That is not the kind of number that you would associate with Postecoglou’s side, and it is not just the strikers who are missing chances but players all across the pitch.
One can only hope that they are able to put this bad run of form behind them as soon as possible, with the Rangers breathing down their necks in the Premiership table once again.
Jota is not the only key player that they are missing at the moment either, with the likes of Callum McGregor and Carl Starfelt also out, and Liel Abada picked up a knock against RB Leipzig as well.