Diogo Jota is likely to miss the start of Liverpool's 2022/23 Premier League season because of a hamstring injury, according to Sky Sports' Ben Dinnery.

The Lowdown: Jota suffers hamstring setback

The Portuguese star suffered the issue earlier in the summer while on international duty before meeting up with his Reds teammates for pre-season.

Unfortunately, Jota has then suffered the same hamstring injury again, meaning he is expected to be sidelined for several weeks, missing their upcoming friendlies in the process.

Liverpool's Premier League opener at Fulham is now only two-and-a-half weeks away and the forward faces a race against time to be fit for the game.

The Latest: Expert makes worrying claim

Speaking to Football Insider, Dinnery, an injury expert who contributes for Sky, claimed that Jota will likely miss that match and potentially even more, such is the severity of the injury:

"This is a real concern. He picked up the injury playing for Portugal and he has picked up a recurrence in training. This calls into question massively his availability heading into game week one. At this moment in time, the chances are that he won’t be involved.

"You can’t afford too many slip-ups in this Premier League, especially given the fact that you’d expect City to start like a steam train.

"Liverpool, if they want to compete, are going to need to hit the ground running as well. Jota would normally be heavily involved in that.

"But unless we see him on the training pitch soon, it’s difficult to see him being involved in the early weeks of the season."

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The Verdict: Big blow for Liverpool

This is a big blow for Liverpool, with Jota such a consistent provider of goals since arriving from Wolves back in 2020, netting 34 times in 85 appearances.

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With Darwin Nunez still settling into his new surroundings, the 25-year-old may have been a regular starter in the opening weeks of the campaign, potentially alongside Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz, but he has now seemingly been deprived of that opportunity and Nunez will be forced to hit the ground running.

The hope is that Jota only misses one or two games, but regardless of when he returns, he will then need to find match practice and rhythm, meaning his start to the season could be very slow.