Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was quiet against Tottenham Hotspur but their manager, Antonio Conte, still praised the Egyptian.
It was the first time in 16 games that he failed to score or register an assist. That is outrageous. It’s the type of streak that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have regularly gone on in their careers and normalised but, really, it’s freakish.
We’re never going to see players like them again and it’s almost going under the radar that Liverpool have a player like them. Salah isn’t anywhere near as good as Messi or Ronaldo but he’s on the level just below that Luis Suarez and Robert Lewandowski are on.
22 goals and nine assists. In 24 games. That is 31 goal contributions in total and it’s not even midway through the season.
Conte told Football.London about Salah: “I think he’s one of the best players in the world. During the game, we have seen he scores or makes assists. He’s a very decisive player.
“During games, every time he has the ball he’s a danger. He improved a lot, I remember him when he played in Italy.
“Now he’s improved in an incredible way. Now I think he’s one of the best players in the world and in every game he’s very decisive.”
Liverpool will be without Salah for around a month and it’s going to be a severe test of their squad. If they fail the test, they won’t win the Premier League. It’s that simple.
As it is, Manchester City are three points ahead of them in the league after Paul Tierney’s refereeing fiasco.
If they stretch that lead in January when the Reds are due to play Chelsea, they could run away with the title before it’s too late.
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