The pace on the Egyptian and Senegalese – mindboggling. Sadio Mane and Mo Salah are in the top ten quickest players in the Premier League and regular members of Liverpool’s starting line-up.Portuguese forward Diogo Jota needs to take his game to a higher level if he wants to battle out consistent starting minutes against these two. And it is not like he did not already show his talent but he decided to upgrade the segment of the game he knows the two above-mentioned players dominate.Jota has been training with his countryman and former sprinter Francis Obikwelu as he looks to get himself in peak physical condition ahead of the new campaign.Diogo Jota trains with former Portuguese sprinter Francis Obikwelu, who won silver at the 2004 Olympics, as Liverpool star looks to keep up with Sadio Mane and Mo Salah and nail down a starting spot for the Reds pic.twitter.com/iT6FOUzu1G— Lilian Chan (@bestgug) August 8, 2021 The Portuguese star has already found his scoring boots for Liverpool during the last season and in the preparatory period for the upcoming campaign. He has also managed to score one and assist one goal each at the EURO 2020.His focus is now back on Liverpool. And at Anfield, Jota wants to impose himself as one of the main players for the future. He has brought in some help in the form of 42-year-old Nigerian-born Obikwelu in an attempt to bring the best out of himself.Obikwelu became a Portuguese citizen in 2001 and from that point onwards decided to compete for the most Western European country (the sprinter won silver at the 2004 Olympics in Athens and several European championships).Diogo Jota aperfeiçoa corrida com… Obikwelu: “Como tu quiseres, aqui há magia” https://t.co/6EWsCq4hiJ— O Jogo (@ojogo) August 9, 2021 Few are better placed than Obikwelu to help Jota gain that extra bit of speed.’In football, we do a proper pre-season and then there are so many matches until December,’ Jota said. ‘But then there’s still half a season to go, and sometimes we’re dealing with some fatigue and we could use some time to switch off.’Obikwelu has an interesting way of explaining his approach to the issue of tiredness and dealing with a hectic schedule.’I can tell you why you have that issue,’ Obikwelu said. ‘Your nervous system isn’t activated. It’s the body’s engine.’A mixture of his manager’s rotation faith in the front three of Mane, Salah and Roberto Firmino and several minor injuries resulted in the 24-year-old only starting 12 Premier League matches last season – Jota hopes Obikwelu’s advice will help him become a regular in Jurgen Klopp’s side.Even with little playing minutes, Jota still managed to score nine league goals for the Reds during the previous season. He now wishes for more opportunities to try and cement his place in the Liverpool starting line-up.
