Mohamed Salah has not hit the ground running this year for Liverpool after his incredible season last year.
The Egyptian had his best individual season at the club with 57 goal contributions in all competitions as he won the Premier League, Golden Boot, and Playmaker award.
Salah was not fortunate, despite these brilliant numbers, to win the Ballon d’Or trophy, which instead went to Ousmane Dembele, as the Liverpool star found himself fourth in the rankings of the award.
But because of his slower start to this season, there has been criticism from pundits about his perceived drop in form, which they have attributed to his age and the loss of Trent Alexander-Arnold down the right flank.
Indeed, his performances have not been the same this season, but that can be said for the Liverpool team as a unit, instead of it just being Salah as an individual who is struggling.
Darren Bent expects Mohamed Salah to score 30 goals in all competitions
Despite the criticisms, as the Manchester United game draws nearer, some in the media have come out in defence of the player, including former Aston Villa footballer Darren Bent.
The player spoke about how he did not understand why the 33-year-old was receiving criticism for his performances because of how he has delivered for the Reds over the years.
READ MORE: John Barnes defends Mohamed Salah’s form as he delivers verdict on what he will do for Liverpool
Speaking to talkSPORT, Bent believed that even though he has not scored as many at the beginning of the season as expected, he will end up on at least 30 goals in all competitions.
He said: “Messi and Ronaldo, and this is the kind of barometer that people use it. These guys were for 15 years, 10 to 15 years, hitting ridiculous numbers. But we are now talking about one of the two of the greatest players in the history of football. Now, Salah, some people might put him in there. I say he’s one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League and that’s not even an argument.
“That’s not even up for debate. But when you look at his numbers when he first got to Liverpool, 44 goals, right? So I’m going to go from when he first got here to now. All competitions. 44, 27, 23, 31, 31, 30, 25, and 34 last year.
“At some point, you’d expect him to go, and he’s 33 years old, he was always going to slow down. I still expect him come end of the season to end with over 30 in all comps… because that’s just what he can do. He can do that.”
Darren Bent disagrees with Marc Cucurella’s Mohamed Salah claim
One of Salah’s poorest performances this season was in the Chelsea game, where he struggled to get himself involved, and when he did, he was denied by the defence.
Marc Cucurella, after the game had said the team were targeting the right-hand side because of how Salah plays.
READ MORE: Arne Slot fires back at Marc Cucurella after Chelsea beat Liverpool… ‘I heard the comments’
However, Bent did not understand why the player would be told to do it because of how the Egyptian plays and believes that teams would be told to target the right because of the defence.
He explained: “I’m looking at Liverpool’s team that started against Chelsea, and he’s saying that we attack their right-hand side, but I’m looking more at the Conor Bradley, Konate, rather than the Salah tracking back part. Because let’s be honest, the right fullback area for Liverpool has been a problem. Both of them, both sides, right? But also, Konate this season has been so inconsistent.
“So I understand, but I think most managers would probably say listen if you get that right-hand side Conor Bradley hasn’t played consistently all season and Konate’s been bad all year. You’re not going to go Virgil side because you obviously got one of the best in the world so that makes a lot of sense.”
Hopefully, the issues in the defence can be solved, but also that Salah can perform at his usual best, especially in the United game.
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