£60m Liverpool player has scored 93.7% of his penalties, he should take over from Mohamed Salah now

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Everything went according to plan in the end for Liverpool against Newcastle on Mohamed Salah’s final game before jetting off to AFCON. But for a brief few moments in the second part of the first half, it didn’t always look like that was going to be the case.

When Salah missed his penalty in the 22nd minute, the momentum seemed to shift in Newcastle’s favour for a little while. And for the next 20 minutes or so, even though Liverpool did everything to score, it just looked like it was not going to be the Reds’ night.

In the end though, Salah and his teammates came firing on all cylinders in the second-half and secured an emphatic victory, after the Egyptian goalscorer changed his boots.

There will be plenty of positives to take from that performance and it will be a huge boost heading into a pivotal month ahead for Klopp and his side to have started the new year on such a high.

The silver lining in Salah’s absence

There is no denying Salah will be a huge loss for Liverpool as the club continues its quest for the Premier League title. However, there is one area where Liverpool may find a silver lining in the Egyptian being away from the club.

For far too long now Liverpool’s penalty taking hierarchy has remained the same. Even though, recently, Salah hasn’t necessarily warranted the faith he deserves.

Salah is a world-class finisher, but he is far too unreliable from the spot. He’s now missed four penalties out of his last 11 attempted for Liverpool. That’s a conversion rate of just 63.63% – a shocking output by any penalty taker.

It’s about time Liverpool reconsider who should be on penalty duty, and Salah’s absence could now present the perfect opportunity for the club to do exactly that.

One player who would be perfectly suited to take over is Dominik Szoboszlai. The Reds signed Szoboszlai for £60m this summer as per The Guardian. Since arriving at the club, Szoboszlai is yet to take a spot kick for Liverpool.

However, before that he has an almost perfect record, scoring 15 out of his 16 attempted penalties at a conversion rate of 93.7%. Among, those penalties were goals scored against the likes of PSG and Bayern Munich during the final few minutes of the game, and a winner against England for his country.

The Hungarian has got the confidence to step-up and convert his penalties, and now in Salah’s absence if Liverpool is awarded a penalty, Szoboszlai should be given a chance to take it.

That’s of course if he is able to play. It’s important to mention that the Hungarian suffered a muscle injury against Newcastle United, and Liverpool will hope it’s nothing serious.