Equal top with Salah off form is no cause for Pool panic. Quite the opposite in fact.

Equal top with Salah off form is no cause for Pool panic. Quite the opposite.

by Leanne Prescott

Chelsea vs Liverpool was earmarked as one of the biggest games of the season given both sides have made strong starts to their respective campaigns, vying to close the gap on champions Manchester City.

Often crunch ties like this can fail to deliver, with both teams opting to shut up shop in the hope of coming away with a valued point and moving on to further challenges – a case that becomes even more prominent when it’s so early on in the season.

Yet, Jurgen Klopp and Maurizio Sarri showed exactly why their sides are considered to be the closest rivals to the title, spraying the ball with confidence and displaying the class and quality needed to compete with record-breaking Pep Guardiola.

Chelsea looked like they’d beat Liverpool for the second time in four days until Daniel Sturridge arrowed in a stunning long-range strike from the edge of the area, sending the Liverpool supporters into pandemonium and fueling optimism that this could finally be their year. There are still concerns however, particularly the form of last season’s star man Mohamed Salah who failed to make telling chances count at Stamford Bridge.

“We will win games”

jurgen Klopp after the game lamented his team’s missed opportunities and admitted it was far from the Egyptian’s finest hour.

“Six, seven times we had big chances,” said Klopp. “We gave them one proper chance, they used it and we didn’t use ours. That’s how life is. As long as we play like we did tonight we will win football games.”

“It was not Mo’s best game of his career, 100%.”

Scoring 44 goals in all competitions last season, Salah picked up the PFA Player of the Year Award alongside the Golden Boot, making an instant impact upon his return to the Premier League.

Naturally, having achieved such a feat the pressure has very much been on at the start of the season for him to replicate such form; scoring just one less than he had at the same stage in 2017/18, his form has noticeably dipped.

Appearing a player with the weight of the world on his shoulders rather than one free from pressure having returned as a ‘Chelsea flop’ ready to make amends at Liverpool, Salah’s first touch and final finish were way off at the weekend, squandering numerous chances to put Klopp’s team in the ascendancy.

“You fail, miss, whatever, that happens”

Nonetheless, the manager has urged fans not to question his quality despite a poor performance, with incisive movement still on show to get into advanced, threatening positions.

“In a game like this constantly in situations he comes in, that makes you a world class player. You fail, miss, whatever, that happens. He wants to be decisive, he wants to score in these situations. The first ball he missed it was not the right position. The next one he passed. Why? He could’ve finished again.”

“It’s like riding a bike. It’s not like you wake up in the morning and you cannot finish any more or cannot ride a bike any more.”

Everyone is distinctly aware of Salah’s quality and while he remains far from his best this season, three goals to his name reflect that for all the spotlights placed on his form, just one goal behind last season he’s still making a telling impact.

Rest assured, Salah will come into his own this season and a tally of 20-25 goals would be a brilliant return considering what he produced last year.

In the meantime, Liverpool are currently level on points with top of the table, separated only by goal difference with a star man who’s yet to hit his best heights. That’s an exciting prospect, rather than a worrying one.