Diogo Jota made his first Premier League start in four months during Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Wolves.

Arne Slot has confirmed that Liverpool are considering surgery for Joe Gomez.

The versatile defender finds himself back on the treatment table with a recurrence of a hamstring injury. Gomez spent more than a month on the sidelines before returning in the FA Cup fourth-round trip to Plymouth Argyle. Gomez lasted just 11 minutes, though, as he again pulled his hamstring in the shock 1-0 defeat at the Championship strugglers.

Gomez is set to miss a large of chunk of the remainder of Liverpool’s Premier League title charge. The Reds are also weighing up whether the England international - who is the Reds’ longest-serving first-team member - needs to have an operation for his issue.

Anfield head coach Slot, speaking ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Aston Villa, said: “Joe is going to be out for a number of weeks because of a hamstring injury. A big blow for us but, first of all, for him because he tries to do everything to be with the team. He worked really hard to come back then the first game he came back after 2-3 minutes, we saw him making a sprint and now he’s out for weeks again.

“It’s always very hard for a player in every part of the season, let alone the part of the season everyone is looking forward it. He will miss large parts of the end of the season but we expect him to be back in the end phase. He might [need surgery] but that’s something we have to assess.”

Jota plan

Liverpool head to Villa against the backdrop of a battling 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. Diogo Jota spearheaded the Reds’ attack as he made his first Premier League start since October. The Portugal international has again endured fitness problems this season.

Jota is widely regarded as Liverpool’s first-choice striker when he is fully fit. Slot admitted that the 28-year-old is still not able to play 90 minutes but is hopeful that Jota - who has bagged eight goals in 23 games this season - can play a significant role against Villa and in Sunday’s trip to Manchester City.

The Dutchman added: “A role like many others. He did so well before his injury. I couldn’t even remember when his last start was for us in the Premier League. We have missed him for 3-4 months when it comes to a start. Chelsea was a long way back. We have missed the No.9 that played in the first seven or eight games every single game almost for 3-4 months.

“But now he is back and he played 60 [minutes]. With these amount of games we play now, you don’t expect him to play 90, 90, 90 [minutes] in the upcoming three but he will be involved hopefully in all the three games and hopefully with a lot of minutes as well.”