Football
  • Home
  • News
  • Luis Diaz News: Assessing The Early Impact And Prospects Of Liverpool'S Latest Attacking Talent

Luis Diaz news: Assessing the early impact and prospects of Liverpool's latest attacking talent

Luis Diaz Liverpool Feb22

The Colombian is proving an instant hit at Anfield following a string of exciting displays since his move from Porto in the January transfer window.

Fernando Torres is rightly regarded as one of the best attacking players seen at Liverpool over the last 20 years.

And yet during his three-and-a-half seasons at the club, the Spanish striker didn't win a single piece of silverware.
Perhaps it was no surprise that he pushed for a move and ended up at Chelsea in early 2011.

Contrast Torres' story with that of new Liverpool forward Luis Diaz.

The Colombian signed for the Reds on January 30 and less than a month later was climbing the Wembley steps and collecting a first winner's medal following Liverpool's Carabao Cup triumph over Chelsea.

Not a bad start to life as a Red. Games played: Seven. Trophies won: One.

Dias, like Torres, has been an instant hit with the Anfield crowd after a series of early vibrant displays.
But what can Liverpool expect from the 25-year-old in the months and years ahead?
Here Planet Sport looks at his performances so far and the numbers he racked up at previous club Porto.

Luis Diaz's two-and-a-half seasons at Porto

Like so many, Diaz's route into European football came via a move to FC Porto.
He signed for the Portugeuse side in July 2019 on a five-year deal, Porto being given personal recommendations from two other Colombian stars that played for the club: James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao.
Luis Diaz has completed a move to Liverpool from Porto

2019/20

Appearances: 50
Goals: 14
Assists: 7
Yellow cards: 1
Red cards: 1
A hugely promising start to life at Porto. Not only did he emerge with a personal tally of 14 goals, Diaz helped Porto win a league and domestic cup double. A good omen for Liverpool? It's certainly started that way.

2020/21

Appearances: 47
Goals: 11
Assists: 6
Yellow cards: 2
Red cards: 1

Diaz's numbers were slightly down across the board in season two although he did show his pedigree with Champions League group stage goals away to Manchester City and at home to Olympiacos.

The strike against City was spectacular, a mazy dribble from the left and an unerring reversed finish past Ederson.

That obvious class was further shown in the Copa America during summer 2021 when he topped the tournament's goalscoring charts with a certain Lionel Messi, both netting four times.

And they weren't just tap-ins either: the first two in particular were spectacular.
His tally included an equaliser in the semi-final against Argentina which Messi's side won on penalties (Diaz didn't take one).

2021/22

Appearances: 29
Goals: 16
Assists: 6
Yellow cards: 3
Red cards: 0
No wonder Liverpool decided to jump in front of Spurs and sign Diaz in January rather than act out the initial plan and wait for the summer.
Diaz was in sensational form, scoring 14 goals and racking up five assists in his 18 league games with Porto.
He added two more goals in the Champions League, home and away to AC Milan.
Of course, Diaz also twice crossed swords with his future employers, Liverpool, in the group stage.
Luis Diaz is close to completing a move to Liverpool
And while he was only given match ratings by Whoscored.com of 6.22 in the 5-1 home defeat and 6.42 in the 2-0 loss at Anfield, Diaz clearly did enough to persuade the Reds that he could be a great fit.

Luis Diaz - early impressions at Liverpool

The Colombian has played seven times for Liverpool and been on the winning side on every occasion.

Here are his Whoscored.com ratings:

3-1 vs Cardiff - 6.5 (came on as a 58th-minute sub)

2-0 vs Leicester - 7.51

2-0 vs Inter - 6.26 (came on as a 59th-minute sub)

3-1 vs Norwich - 8.08

6-0 vs Leeds - 8.37

0-0 vs Chelsea - 6.79

2-1 vs Norwich - 6.22 (came on as an 84th-minute sub)

Against Leicester, he attempted 4 shots (T1st with Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah) and had 5 successful dribbles (1st).
An impressed Jurgen Klopp said of Diaz's full debut: "It was now a first game and was probably one of the best I ever saw from a new player, that's true, because it looked completely natural."

Against Norwich, Diaz again had four shots (T2nd) and one of those resulted in his first goal for the club, a deft finish after being picked out by skipper Jordan Henderson.

Against Leeds, he again got off four shots (T2nd), two of those on target. Diaz enjoyed a 91% successful pass rate and also won more aerial battles (3) than anyone on the pitch.

Against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final, once more he had his now obligatory four shots. As in the Norwich and Leeds Premier League games, only Salah had more.

Conclusion

Just looking at Premier League games, Diaz ranks 1st in the Whoscored.com Liverpool player ratings this season with an average of 7.99.
True, three matches is a very small sample size but to be above Salah in any list is impressive.

Only Salah (4.1) averages more shots per game for the Reds this season than Diaz (4.0), who is ahead of Sadio Mane (3.1), Diogo Jota (2.7) and Roberto Firmino (1.3).

Not only do the stats tell the story of how well Diaz is settling in, so do the visuals.

Watch footage of Liverpool's goals or the Wembley triumph and he's at the heart of the celebrations, jumping on team-mates' backs and looking like he's a part of the furniture already.

Diaz doesn't have a good grasp of English yet but the Reds have plenty of Spanish speakers. And in terms of his outlook as a player, he appears to have the ideal mix of confidence and willingness to learn.

In other words, the perfect Klopp project: a young, hungry player who can be moulded into a superstar.

"Liverpool have got one here," said Gary Neville from the commentary box when watching Diaz use his pace and skill to trouble Chelsea at Wembley.
That assessment looks spot on. Diaz's record for Porto earlier this season and his bright start at Anfield suggest he could be an absolute bargain at the initial fee of £37.5million.
Liverpool's fabled attacking trident which causes headaches to every opponent at home and abroad suddenly has an exciting new member.

READ MORE: Liverpool are the Premier League's best first-half team, while struggling Everton are the worst

More Articles