Liverpool need to be careful of Wolves striker Raúl Jiménez, who is their Roberto Firmino and will need to be managed on Thursday.
One is from North America, the other South America. They’re both 28. They both got their starts with local sides before making moves to Europe and then the Premier League.
Jiménez made the transition from CF América to Atletico Madrid for £9.45 million in 2014. Atletico then sold the Mexican to Benfica for £19.80 million as they pocketed a handsome profit for a player with just one goal in 28 appearances and watched the Portuguese side double their money as Wolves paid £34.20 million for the forward’s services.
Firmino’s route to Liverpool was far more simple. Tombense to Hoffenheim to Anfield in five short years, and the rest is history.
Both play through the middle, but the pair are far removed from your typical centre-forward. Jiménez is a creative workaholic who never stops running opposition defences into the ground, has played every Wolves game since Nuno Santo took charge and assists nearly as many as he scored.
Firmino is very much in the same mould, although he will use his physicality less and drop back towards his half-way line more. The Brazilian brings everyone else into play, and like Jiménez, is the thread that seems to hold it all together.
Raúl Jiménez is the man they look to in order to make the system work. He’s hardly ever subbed off – just four in 22 starts for 2019/2020 – as Santo trusts the star to his dirty work for him. If Liverpool can disrupt this, it will go a long way to deciding the game.
They are remarkably similar footballers. In 311 career appearances, the Wolves star has 99 goals. Roberto Firmino has 132 in 415 with 92 assists – compared to 50 for the Mexican.
When you compare their statistical playing styles, we’ve used Smarter Scout, the picture becomes clearer. We can see how they are used to pressure the opposition, and do it well. The pair have a defending quality score of 60, grounds duels out of possession score of 77 for Bobby and 76 for Jiménez and disruption scores of 52 and 47.
On Thursday, fans will be treated to seeing two excellent forwards trying to beat each other at their own game. It should make for fascinating viewing.