The individual brilliance of Mohamed Salah means that Liverpool remain on course to win both the Premier League and the Champions League this season. The Egyptian forward scored a fantastic goal as his team edge past RB Salzburg and secured a place in the last 16 of Europe’s top competition. He then followed it up with a brilliant brace to lead the Reds to a 2-0 victory over Watford on Saturday. Both games provided a timely reminder of Salah’s importance to this world-beating Liverpool team, and they should continue to flourish in 2020 if he remains fit.
The goal against Salzburg came from a fiendishly difficult position and it was on his weaker foot, so it had the studio pundits gasping in astonishment. Salah’s two strikes against Watford at the weekend were sensational for different reasons – the first a wondergoal that saw him totally bamboozle his marker and then curl beautifully into the bottom corner, and the second a back-heeled nutmeg that killed the game off.
He boasts a better goal per game record than any Liverpool forward in the Premier League era, which leaves him ahead of such luminaries as Luis Suarez, Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Fernando Torres. It is all the more remarkable when you consider that Salah plays out wide. Former England manager Sam Allardyce was eager to heap superlatives on the mercurial forward after the Watford game, likening him to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. “Ronaldo and Messi both score goals but not as a centre-forward, and Mo Salah is the same,” said Allardyce. “So it makes it even more remarkable with the goals Salah has scored from his position.”
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The Reds Go Marching On
Salah’s sparkling form has left Liverpool in pole position to end their 30-year league title drought in May. The Premier League odds show the Reds to be overwhelming favorites for Premier League glory this season, and the SBR experts believe that Jurgen Klopp’s men have what it takes to sweep title rivals Leicester aside on December 26.
They are now 10 points clear of the Foxes at the top of the table thanks to that crucial intervention by Salah on Saturday. They are also 14 points ahead of defending champions Man City, which is a phenomenal achievement. Liverpool have been close to faultless this season, taking 49 points from a possible 51 so far. They remain unbeaten and they have only drawn once, as they regularly overwhelm teams with the intensity of their pressing and pace of their attacks. Salah is instrumental on both fronts.
Liverpool are also favorites to get the better of Atletico Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League. They went all the way to the final in 2018, with Salah, Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino all on fire, but they lost 3-1 to Real Madrid due to two shocking errors from young goalkeeper Loris Karius. He was quickly jetted out and the Reds have been nigh on invincible since brining in Alisson to keep goal. They surged to victory in last season’s Champions League final, and they really are the team to beat this time around.
A Future Balon d’Or Winner?
It will be interesting to see if Salah has individual honors bestowed upon him. He was named PFA Premier League Player of the Season in 2017/18 and he has won the Golden Boot for the past two years, but the Balon d’Or escapes him.
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To stand alongside Messi and Ronaldo on the world stage he needs that award under his belt.
Both Firmino and Mané have also been sensational for the past 18 months or so, which can make it difficult for Salah to stand out. But he is the biggest name of that attacking triumvirate and he continues to dazzle with his dynamism on the ball and his remarkable improvisation in front of goal. Salah can absolutely go on and seize the greatest individual honors in world football if he continues to mine this rich vein of form. If he leads his team to yet another Champions League final and fires them to the Premier League title, it will be hard to overlook him.
